


Dreamweaver

by Skye_Willows



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (multiple times), Anal Sex, Android-Human War, Canon-Typical Violence, Chemical Weapons, DPD Partners, Emotional Rollercoaster, Family Issues, Fluff, Funerals, Gang-Related Violence, Grief/Mourning, Hankcon BB 2019 Fic, Happy/Bittersweet Ending, Heed the tags!, Highly Dubious Moral Decisions, Human and Android Gore, Hurt/Comfort, I'd Have Tissues On Standby, Immolation, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Major Angst with a Happy-ish Ending, Major Character Injury, Marriage Proposal (not Hankcon), Memory Loss, Memory Loss/Impairment, Multiple Realities, Mystery Fic, Private Detectives, Public executions, Suspense, This Fic Will Break Your Heart More Than Once, War-Typical Violence, Wedding, Workplace Conspiracies, emotional smut, major angst, married Hankcon, on and off screen character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 14:13:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 84,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19174951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Willows/pseuds/Skye_Willows
Summary: Connor first wakes to a life in the DPD, solving crimes at his partner’s side.The next time he awakens to find he is a private detective, newly married and in love.And when he exits stasis again, he is on the frontlines of an android-human war, the world on the verge of ruin.Then he finds the mysterious woman in the Zen Garden, and her riddle.Connor finds himself looping between three realities, trying desperately to figure out which two are fabrications, and which one is real. And to answer the question at the centre of it all.Why is this happening to him?





	1. Corruption

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So, this is finally it: my contribution to the Hankcon Big Bang for 2019! 
> 
> This is by far the most ambitious fic that I have ever written, and it has a lot of everything. Mystery, emotional dilemmas and agonising, so much angst that I feel the tag of MAJOR ANGST isn't enough, romance, suspense...take your pick, it's probably here. It is primarily a mystery fic though, so I hope you all enjoy puzzling it out!
> 
> The artwork for this behemoth is done by the amazing [Kai](https://twitter.com/NotConnor800)! Please go check out their Twitter to see all their incredible art! Kai, it's been an absolute pleasure to work with you, thank you for putting up with all my freakouts about this piece.
> 
> I would advise you all turn on Work Skins for this piece, a lot of it is especially formatted and in specific fonts for a reason.
> 
> Right, yapping over, time for the fic to begin! I'm planning on updating this every day or every other day until the the end at Chapter 15, so you won't all be left hanging in suspense for too long.
> 
> (PS, I'd have tissues on standby throughout, this fic is a tearjerker)
> 
> Enjoy!

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**REBOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 87%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

Connor spied the message on his HUD with great confusion as he awoke from stasis. He quickly ran a scan over his systems, but they came back normal – well, mostly normal. For some reason, his memory was glitching slightly. It was all still there, he could see the readouts confirming that his data banks were filled, but access was a little sketchy. Every time he tried, he winced at the sudden jolt of electricity through his head in response.

Awareness of pain was definite his least favourite part of deviancy.

“Hey, Connor, you up?”

With a thought, Connor blinked the message on his HUD away: it could be sorted later. Sitting up from where he was lounged on the sofa (and under a blanket despite Connor’s assurance that he didn’t need any sort of covering for when he was in stasis), Connor looked towards the kitchen. Hank was leaning against the cupboards, nursing a cup of coffee, while Sumo was asleep under the table. The older man gave him a small nod from behind the cup as he was taking a drink, to which Connor gave him a tiny smile.

Since living with Hank, Connor had found that early morning had become one of his favourite parts of the day. As a general rule the pair were stationed mostly on day shift since Connor had returned to the DPD after the revolution, which meant they had this small stretch of time at the start of the day for idle discussion. So often their evenings consisted of them going over the events of the day, and evenings were the prime time for Hank to slip up on his attempts to stay sober if their case had been taxing. As a result, Connor cherished this peaceful time in the morning to spend with the man who had shown him so much kindness since the revolution – and to this day, was his staunchest supporter.

And who Connor now liked to think, was a dear friend: even if his own feelings were a little more complex and a little confused right now. He still wasn’t sure what to think of this new warmth which had begun to flare in his chest when around Hank, especially in private moments like right now.

Shuffling the blanket off, Connor stood and approached the kitchen. “Good morning, Lieutenant,” he greeted warmly.

Hank rolled his eyes at Connor. “You’d think after living here so damn long that you’d actually use my name, Connor. I swear you’re doing this to be a smart bastard.”

Cocking his head at the other man, Connor regarded him curiously. “What gave you that impression?”

“Simple, you are a little shit when you want to be. I’ve seen that from how often you troll Reed in the precinct.” At that, Connor smiled, which brought a small version to Hank’s own face. “Don’t you two ever get bored of trying to one-up each other?”

“You can hardly call it a fair competition,” Connor replied, somewhat smug. “I am maintaining my dominance while Detective Reed is attempting, feebly, to restore the balance.”

Hank snorted in laughter from behind his cup. “All right, all right, I’ll give you that one, Connor. Still, you’ve gotta admit, he’s getting better with the quick fire responses. I think it took until the twentieth go for you to catch him out this time.”

Connor gave Hank a stare. “Still a fruitless effort.”

“Never thought you’d be such a prideful bastard,” Hank chuckled while putting his coffee down. “So, what’s the plan for today then?”

Happy to change the conversation, Connor knelt down and petted Sumo, their large St Bernard woofing happily at the attention. Connor smiled down at the dog as he answered. “Captain Fowler wishes to discuss a matter with us at 11 a.m., and we then have some interviews to conduct at 1 p.m. Beyond that, out current assignment is paperwork.”

“More fucking paper pushing,” Hank grumbled while checking his watch, seeing 9:36 a.m. staring back at him. God, he missed the days of waking up at noon, but he’d learned the hard way that Connor _would_ find a way to wake him up the mornings…His fourth encounter with an ice cold bucket of water to rouse him made sure of that. “You want to take Sumo out for a bit while I get showered? The big idiot refused to go with me earlier, I swear he’s determined to get that spell with you in the morning.”

Connor’s smile turned a little embarrassed. “I hardly think Sumo is that picky, Hank.”

“You say that, and this is the dog that refused to have any colour lead other than red. He destroyed all the others,” Hank pointed out.

“Coincidence?”

“…It happened three times, Connor. Sumo is a fussy git, so be glad he likes you and go take him out.” Connor was well aware that Hank was just trying to press the point at this stage, so decided to accept the duty gracefully and nodded once. The older man gave him a smile before stretching and heading for the bathroom. “And don’t make a mess of yourself in the mud again! That shit is still staining the carpet!”

“That was Sumo’s fault!” Connor protested. “He jumped on my back while I was otherwise distracted.”

“Connor, you’re a state of the art android. How the hell does a _dog_ manage to catch you out with the reflexes I know you have?”

That earned a small blush out of Connor. “I may have been admiring several other dogs in the park at the time.”

Hank chuckled warmly. “CyberLife’s prized killing machine undone by dogs, you couldn’t write it, I swear.” He waved dismissively as he headed into the bathroom. “Go on, get out of here. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Smiling away at Hank’s statement, Connor grabbed Sumo’s lead and attached it to the dog’s collar before turning his attention back to his system abnormalities. He couldn’t understand why his memory was suddenly like this… Like a fog had just descended over it. Even his internal chronometer couldn’t tell him the time or date, it was just not there, another **#!ERROR!** message appearing in his vision.

…What was going on with him?

* * *

“Dipshit!”

Connor sighed internally while smirking at the customary greeting as he and Hank entered the precinct: that hadn’t taken Gavin very long. “Terminal.”

Gavin just crossed his arms as he strode over from his desk and raised an eyebrow in reply. “Loser.”

“Realism.”

That had the other man laughing. “Mature.”

“Eccentricity.”

While he kept his main attention on the verbal spar with Gavin, Connor used his android senses to keep a track of his partner: watching from the corner of his eye as Hank shook his head and wandered off, joining Chris and Tina who were staring at the squabbling pair from a few desks away. “They really do this every morning now, don’t they?” Chris wondered out loud, the android listening in.

“You know, they’ve been doing this same stupid routine for months now, and I’ve no idea how this game of theirs even works,” Tina said, to which Connor had to repress a smile. It was strange how their insults and arguments had eventually evolved into their little morning routine, but he couldn’t deny the small glee at how Gavin kept coming back for more.

Connor saw as Hank drank long from the cup of coffee which Tina handed him and hissed at the bitter taste of it. “You’re both police officers and you can’t make the connection?” Hank asked in disbelief.

Tina and Chris both blushed, which Connor did smile a tiny amount at, while firing another response at Gavin. He was honestly impressed, the detective had managed to successfully go through the alphabet without slipping up. Time to crank things up. “Guess we’re showing why we haven’t made detective yet,” Tina grumbled in reply.

Hank laughed at the honestly. “Simple rule: start your word in reply with the last letter of the previous one. Only catch is you can’t end it with a letter that’s already been used,” Connor heard Hank explain, only mildly surprised that Hank had worked out their new rule from…

Actually, how long had it been? The last ‘date’ Connor could actively remember was February 27th2039\. What was the date now? His chronometer glitched again and Connor hissed under his breath. This was getting rather frustrating.

Of course, the android managed to maintain their game flawlessly while doing so. The advantages of being a literal super computer. They were almost at the end of their second run through the alphabet and Connor could sense victory. Gavin had all but boxed himself into a loss, but if he somehow managed to come up with a word of the right combination-

“Crap!” Gavin shouted, flustered. Okay, Connor would let him have that one, but only because Connor _knew_ Gavin had lost.

He smirked as he uttered the next word. “Phoenix.”

Gavin stuttered as he realised that Connor had played him into a corner and roared in annoyance. “Fuck!” he swore, growling. “Dammit, I thought I might get you there! Seriously, is there a fucking word that starts with ‘x’ and ends in ‘f’? That’s the only letters left!”

Connor just winked in reply. “I will leave you to figure that one out, Detective. Have a good morning,” he stated while sauntering away, which had Hank chuckling as Gavin flipped the android off. As much as they may still dislike each other to a mild degree, Connor and Gavin had come to an understanding and shared a healthy respect for the other – Connor appreciated Gavin’s work ethic while the human could admire Connor’s efficiency in closing cases. They got the job done, and it was something to build a dynamic from.

That didn’t stop them from being snarky as hell with one another, though most insults were relatively good-natured now.

“Hank, Connor! Get your asses in here!” came a shout from the other end of the bullpen, to which the pair looked up and saw Fowler beckoning them over. They shared a quick look, and Connor scowled when his internal chronometer played up again. His systems were still in disarray, and it was becoming increasingly irksome. Fortunately, Hank had looked at his watch in the meantime to confirm that, yes, Fowler was calling them in early.

Usually, that was never for a good reason.

Trudging along the bullpen, Hank led the way into Fowler’s office with Connor closing the door right behind them. The captain was lounged back in his chair with his head in his right hand, that arm propped on the table. Hank and Connor shared a look, recognising the body language as stress and exhaustion. “How can we help, Captain?” Connor asked cordially.

Fowler sighed long before shoving over a manila folder to the pair. “Just got this in from the mayor’s office,” he stated tiredly, waiting for the duo to study the contents. “Read through it and give me a plan of action.”

Hank was the one who picked the folder up, flicking through the pages slowly as he read through the details of the case. Connor watched from over his shoulder, but his android abilities allowed him to scan and analyse each page in under a second. The human could sense Connor tighten up next to him, another thing that the android had developed post-deviancy, so when Hank did reach the end of the pages and saw what had caused it, he swore a little less than he might have done. “Fuck, the mayor thinks that some members of a prominent anti-android group have infiltrated his office?” the lieutenant grumbled.

Nodding in exasperation, Fowler stood and brought up some images on the screen which comprised of his back wall. Connor and Hank both examined sixteen faces which appeared, along with their criminal records. A few driving offences and other petty crimes, but nothing of note; and certainly nothing within the past ten years for any of them. “The mayor hired private investigators to keep maximum subtlety,” Fowler continued, “and this is who their own investigation flagged up as potential suspects. They couldn’t dig any deeper without setting off any alarm bells, so I want you two to go down to city hall and get briefed.”

“I suspect this is in response to the mayor’s efforts to push through android rights in the city,” Connor suggested.

“Sounds plausible, and also highly probable.” Fowler leant back and gave both Connor and Hank a stern look. “What I’m about to tell you stays quiet, got it?” The pair gave a sharp nod. “Turns out the mayor has an android lover, and is being both blackmailed and threatened.”

The duo shared a stunned look. “Well, that’s a surprise,” Hank commented. “How long for?”

“Here’s the kicker: seems like his android had been deviant for a year before the revolution and he protected her during it. Convinced her not to join Markus’ march and has been keeping her existence quiet.”

“And thus the grounds for blackmail – he was hiding an android when they were all ordered to be turned in, and also had a deviant android for an extended period of time. Let alone the fact that the mayor’s pro-android agenda can be taken as biased, and if the information were to come to light it would damage the chances of any future legislation,” Connor surmised.

Fowler nodded. “I know this is going to be a messy one for you two, but I honestly don’t trust anyone else in the DPD to approach this with the right eye. Not because I doubt they’ll let personal agendas get in the way, but you’re a human-android pair; let alone the fact that I know you two are roommates and are close friends. I think the mayor will be willing to be honest around a duo who could empathise with his desire to protect his android.”

Connor and Hank both understood what Fowler meant by his statement, even if it didn’t come across as feeling as he intended. They weren’t shy about the fact that they were fiercely close. “Sure, you can count on us, Jeffrey,” Hank stated with a strong nod. “Fire us all the background and we’ll get right on it.”

The Captain sat up with an appreciative nod. “I’ll pass your cases over to Collins, Miller and Reed. You’ve got an appointment with the mayor’s office at 3. Don’t let me down.”

“You can count on us, Captain,” Connor answered determinedly, to which Hank gave his own nod. Fowler smiled slightly in gratitude and waved them out.

As they sat back down at their desks, Hank sighed in aggravation. “Great, this is going to be a shit show, I can tell already,” he sighed, rubbing his temples. Connor could see the stress through his whole body, but chose not to say anything. He’d learned by now that Hank would share his concerns when he was good and ready.

Contrary to his expectations, it didn’t take too long this time. “You gonna be all right with this case, Con?”

Connor cocked his head in curiosity at the soft tone. “Of course I would be, Lieutenant. Why would I not?”

“An anti-android group infiltrating the mayor’s office is going to be a motherfucking nightmare. Means this lot are smart, well connected and they’re organised. Who knows how long this has been going on, or what they’ve got planned…” Hank gave Connor a concerned look. “Do you think you should give Markus the heads’ up? I know he’s been spending a lot of time at city hall because of his political work, wouldn’t help for him to be unaware of the danger.”

The android contemplated this for a moment. “I believe it may be prudent, but not until after we have more information,” Connor decided. “Once we have had our meeting with the mayor this afternoon, I will alert Markus. Hopefully we can give him more details.”

Hank sat back and stared at his terminal. “Just when I thought all this crap was finally starting to calm down, humans are proving just what arrogant and shitty creatures we are all over again.” Connor eyed him with a distinct fondness, thinking of the massive contrast from the man he’d met just as the revolution started to now. You’d struggle to find a bigger advocate for android rights nowadays, even if Hank was more reserved with his thoughts than others. Didn’t mean he wasn’t shy about telling anyone if the need came about.

“Not _all_ humans,” Connor told him affectionately, which had Hank smiling warmly in reply.

“Fine, just 99% of us,” Hank shot back with a slight laugh.

“I don’t know, unless you are counting just general ‘assholish-ness’ in that 99% instead of being aimed specifically at androids. Then I might tend to agree with you.”

Hank snorted. “You know a human who isn’t an asshole?”

“Of course, Chris. His temperate personality makes up for the rest of the DPD,” Connor finished with a pointed look at Hank.

The Lieutenant threw an empty disposable cup at him. “You little shit!” he bellowed, to which Connor leant out of the way without even looking at the cup. “Show off…” Hank grumbled.

Sharing a look and a small laugh the pair got back to work, the smile on Connor’s face never shifting, even as his systems continued to malfunction.

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

Connor sighed at the message which kept flashing on his HUD. The problem was not critical, only mildly irritating. He’d drop in by an android analysis centre later in the day: it had been a while since he’d checked in to see how Simon and Josh’s initiative in repurposing all the former CyberLife stores was progressing, anyway.

* * *

Contrary to Connor’s hopes, their meeting with the mayor proved to be of minimal help. The man was immensely grateful for their assistance and was well aware who Connor was: his presence did indeed mean the mayor was willing to answer any questions the pair had – with the promise that all the information would be kept secure. Sadly, there was only so much he could tell Hank and Connor. The blackmailers were doing their utmost to stay anonymous, sending only text messages and video via burn phones.

Just enough to make sure the man knew they were serious while ensuring they remained untraceable.

Connor was now agreeing with Hank’s initial suspicion: this case was going to be difficult from the get-go, and could get dangerous once the blackmailers felt they were being closed in on. The first priority was to see how serious they were about their threats.

The pair were walking back to Hank’s car discussing the details while Connor messaged Markus to update him on the potential threat – the ramifications to android rights and having them passed in future could be huge.

Markus’ response was as concerned as Connor suspected it might be.

**_This is not the sort of thing I was hoping to hear, Connor._ **

In his mind, Connor sighed.

_I’m well aware, Markus, I’m just as disappointed as you are. The initial investigations seemed to throw up minimal assistance, but you can rest assured that the Lieutenant and I are dedicated to getting to the bottom of this. We won’t let this group get away with their intentions._

**_I have no doubt of that, Connor: you and the Lieutenant have done a lot for us in the time since the revolution. This is still a very troubling development. Do we know anything about the mayor’s lover? She may be of some help and I wish to offer her protection._ **

_She’s an AP700 by the name of ‘Michelle’. The mayor did give us details of her safehouse and contact information, I had already considered making an approach._

**_Do you object to me making the first contact? I promise to pass on anything of note._ **

_Not at all, this case is of vested interest to you. I will alert the Lieutenant to your intentions as we begin to learn more about our suspects._

“Con, you okay? You’re very quiet.”

Giving Hank a slight smile, Connor focused on Markus’ reply before answering.

**_Thank you, Connor. I’ll be in touch. You should come by the manor sometime soon, it has been too long since we saw you socially._ **

_I would like that, Markus. Say hello to the others for me. Are Simon and Josh at any of the repair centres today?_

**_Simon is at the one just off Hart Plaza. Are you all right, Connor?_ **

_Just some minor glitches, I am fine. Thank you for your time._

**_Connor, you don’t have to be so formal with me. It honestly helps if you_ ** _don’t **talk to me like I’m some major figure.**_

Connor chuckled at the message as he replied to Hank. “I’m fine, Lieutenant, just speaking with Markus. He wishes to approach the mayor’s lover to ask if she wishes for any extra protection.”

Hank snorted. “Might’ve figured you were yapping to him. Sure, it makes sense to beef up security. How much have you told him?”

“I have passed on the full file I’ve written up for the DPD report. He is as worried as we are.”

“As long as he tells us anything else he learns, I’ve got no issue.”

The android’s tone was amused as he got back to Markus.

_Markus, you are the leader of the androids. I am afraid you will always be treated with a healthy amount of respect given you **are** such a, as you put it, ‘major figure’._

**_I don’t need my_ ** _friends, **doing the same, Connor. It helps if some people treat me a little more normally.**_

He smiled at the answer.

_Old habits die hard. The Lieutenant is doing his best to change things._

**_Ha, I can imagine! Feel free to bring him when you come over, I’d enjoy another game of chess against him._ **

_I will extend the invitation._

**_All right, thanks, Connor. Speak to you soon._ **

_Good luck, Markus._

Connor disconnected just as they entered the garage at the back of city hall. “Where do you wish to start with this case, Lieutenant?” he asked.

“First thing’s first, Connor, I’m grabbing a bite to eat, I’m fucking starving,” Hank told him with little room for argument. The android automatically tried to access the time internally and hissed at the sharp pain which ripped through his head. Hank spied this and looked at him in concern. “Shit, you okay, Con? You look like you’ve got a headache.”

“That’s a surprisingly apt description,” Connor informed him. “I have a small malfunction within my mind palace. Certain functions are glitching and causing a jolt of feedback when I attempt to access them. My internal chronometer is one of these, and given it is a function which is all but second nature to me, I find myself trying to bring it up involuntarily.”

Hank gave him a funny look. “You telling me that some circuits are loose in your head and one of them is your clock? And when you’re trying to look at it, you’re giving yourself a headache?”

“Simply put, but yes.”

The human sighed and unclipped his watch to offer it to Connor. “Go on, take it. My phone can tell me the time anyway. Don’t want you hurting your noggin’ cause you can’t tell the time.”

Connor accepted it with a small smile. “Thank you, Hank.”

“So you do know how to use my name,” Hank teased while bumping elbows with Connor. The android chuckled as the two kept walking.

While certain functions of his mind palace were indeed malfunctioning, Connor could still pick up on danger quickly. Squealing tyres from behind caught their attention and Connor spun to see a gun being raised out the passenger window. He reacted instantly by pushing Hank into cover between two other cars while drawing his own gun to fire at their assailants. The lieutenant recovered quickly and leapt back into a crouched position while drawing his own gun, keeping in shelter when bullets ricocheted off the car in front of him.

The firefight echoed through the garage for all of ten seconds before the car quickly made a u-turn and sped in the opposite direction, away from the two police officers.

“Damn, nice reactions, Connor,” Hank complimented before looking over to see Connor slumped over the bonnet of their cover, gasping in pain. “Shit, Connor!” He ran to the android’s side and slung the arm which wasn’t being held over Connor’s chest across his own shoulder. “Talk to me, Con, what’s your damage?”

Connor hissed at the glitching in his HUD, but he just managed to make out the garbled messages through the haze of static and red.

 **BIOCOMPONENT #6642f DAMAGED**  
**BIOCOMPONENT #7231r DAMAGED**  
**THIRIUM LOSS DETECTED**  
**LOW POWER MODE IMMINENT**  
**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

“The damage is non-critical,” he managed to gasp out, “but I’m going to slip into low power mode shortly. Simon is at the android-android repair centre at…Hart Plaza…”

“Got it!” Hank let Connor’s arm slip and rested the android against the side of his car briefly to unlock the door. He helped secure Connor in the passenger seat before jumping in to speed right out of the garage. “Son of a bitch, that was way too coincidental timing for my liking!”

“I agree…” Connor wheezed while trying to run a diagnostic unsuccessfully. “That attack seemed targe-ah!”

“Easy, Con, easy,” Hank soothed with a hand on Connor’s shoulder as he weaved through traffic, lights on to help their dash. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yes, I will…But I’m-I need to…”

“Rest, Connor,” Hank reassured him. “I’ll take care you, see you when you wake up.”

Connor nodded while allowing his body to slump into low power mode. The damage could be fixed without any long-lasting complications, he knew that he’d be fine.

But Hank was right, that attack was far too well timed to be anything other than deliberate. They had their answer as to how serious their blackmailers were, and it left Connor apprehensive for what lay ahead.

**LOW POWER MODE ACTIVATED  
STASIS SEQUENCE INITIATED**

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**REBOOT SEQUENCE ABORTED**

**WARNING!**  
**SYSTEM STATUS UNSTABLE  
FURTHER ATTEMPTS AT REBOOT MAY CAUSE TERMINAL DAMAGE**

**RETRY? (Y/N) _**

(Y)

**REBOOT SEQUENCE REINITIATED**

**LOADING OS**

**…**  
…  
…

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 84%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**


	2. Impossible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you're all intrigued. Time for you all to see a little more of the mystery poor Connor's got himself into. Things are more than a little different this time...
> 
> **Update** : Now that I've figured out how to do it, here is the first of the incredible [Kai](https://twitter.com/NotConnor800)'s artwork! Please feel free to scream love at them for this amazing piece!

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
//!ERROR DETECTED  
//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED  
//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED

**WARNING!**  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNSTABLE  
IMMEDIATE SHUTDOWN IS RECOMMENDED TO PREVENT CRITICAL DAMAGE

**INITIATE SHUTDOWN PROCEDURE? (Y/N) _**

(N)

_Override Safety Protocol 161  
_Terminate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*3I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X3I*1I1X*

**SAFETY PROTOCOL 161 OVERRIDDEN**

**WARNING!**  
SYSTEM STATUS UNSTABLE  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNSTABLE  
CONTINUATION OF PROCESS COULD LEAD TO TERMINAL FAILURE

**CONTINUE? (Y/N) _**

(Y)

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 84%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY  
**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

There it was, the same message yet again as Connor found himself rousing from stasis, but he pushed it aside with a sense of mild irritation. Whatever was wrong with his systems was not critical, he could deal with it later. Right now, he was going to have to learn what he had missed in the time he had been offline for repairs after those bullet wounds.

Connor opened his eyes from where he was lying on a bed, only to register several things as strange.

1) He should not be in a bed, he would surely have been in a maintenance rig at an android repair centre, shouldn’t he?

2) The room around him was completely unfamiliar.

3) He could hear a shower running off to his left, indicating that he was not alone.

Completely confused, Connor sat up in the bed and threw off the covers, finding himself in only a black tank top and similarly coloured underwear. As he swung his legs over the side of the bed, Connor scanned his surroundings in more detail, trying to identify where he was.

It was a bedroom, that much was obvious. Straight ahead of him was a view out over Detroit, and his scanners told him that the room was situated eleven stories up. They were downtown then. Turning his view inwards showed him that the bedroom was modestly sized. A side table on either side, with two doors at the foot of the bed. One led to what looked like a walk-in wardrobe while the other went to an apparent living and kitchen space (that door being on Connor’s side of the bed when he stood, offering him an unhindered view).

As he walked on to the foot of the bed, Connor’s eyes first took in the small en-suite bathroom to the left, of which the door was shut and he could still hear the shower, before moving to the set of drawers situated between the two doors leading out of the room. Above it was a mirror, but Connor’s eyes were drawn to the picture frames which lay scattered across the tops of the drawers. Four of them were there, and he found himself picking them up in fascination, feeling the confusion in his body change to a mixture of that, terror and dread.

None of the images were familiar, and yet he was in all of them.

The first showed himself with Hank and Sumo, but not as he knew the man. For one, Hank’s hair was cut much shorter and his beard was trimmed, but Hank also looked…healthier. Almost like the years of self-destruction after losing his son had never happened. They were walking along a beach, smiling at the camera as Sumo bounded around them happily. The sun was setting in the distance, and the scene seemed immensely peaceful with the two of them in nothing more than brightly coloured shorts and patterned shirts.

A quick look at the back showed a label in Hank’s familiar handwriting. Finally convinced him to see the beach. Worth all of Sumo’s bitching in the car.

Putting that one down, Connor picked up the next, only to be even more lost. It showed himself with four other people that he was immensely familiar with, but in a completely strange setting, and the fifth was…alarming. It was an office space which he did not recognise, but even from the still image, he could see the easy familiarity. Six figures standing side-by-side, arms around each other’s shoulders with different degrees of smiles. At the far left was Ben Collins, looking bemused, while next to him was Hank. His partner seemed happy and proud, and then Connor saw himself with a relaxed smile. On his other side was Chris Miller, the youngest human member of the group, with a beaming grin, while Gavin Reed was right next to him. Gavin’s expression was overly dramatic impatience, but Connor could see the grin he was fighting.

And on Gavin’s right…was an android that looked startlingly similar to himself. It shared many of his physical features, but was slightly taller, broader with sharper features and had icy blue eyes. Connor’s software actually came back describing them as grey, but even with his HUD still glitching out slightly, he managed to make out the identification it came back with.

**RK900 #313-248-317-87, Designation ‘Richard’**

_RK900? A successor to my model? How have I never seen this before? And why is this all so unfamiliar to me?_

He dismissed that thought for now, instead taking a closer look at the RK900 – or ‘Richard’, he changed his thinking to. Richard was evidently a deviant model too, based from the easy posture and confident smile, and seemed comfortable with himself. Connor flipped the picture around and saw the writing on the back. Hank’s script, as before, saying: Day one at the agency. Damn proud to be working with this bunch of assholes.

_Agency? What agency?_

Placing the picture down, Connor picked up the next one. It was the six of them again, but the setting was entirely different. It was in a bar, dimly lit with flashes of blue and purple behind them, but there was no mistaking what had been transpiring. Bottles and glasses were strewn around a circular table that the six of them were standing around, but the body language was completely different. Celebratory, warm, happy… Connor felt his thirium pump ache just seeing the beaming smiles, but that wasn’t all that stole his artificial breath away.

At the left were Gavin and Richard standing together. Richard was smiling at the camera, while Gavin was leaning right into him, head resting against his shoulder while casually flipping the bird to the other side of the table. Connor could see how Gavin and Richard’s arms were wrapped around each other’s waists and there was no mistaking the intimacy between them.

_Gavin in a romantic relationship with an android? Impossible._

And yet the evidence was in front of him, along with…

On the opposite side of the frame Ben was roaring in laughter, holding his side while bent over, while Chris was amused right next to him, giving Gavin the middle finger right back. Connor wondered what had brought about such an interaction, but his attention was completely stolen by seeing himself and Hank in the centre.

The pair of them had their arms wrapped around each other. Connor’s were both around Hank’s middle and he was biting his lip at something, while Hank had one wrapped around Connor’s head, bringing it in to kiss the android’s forehead with a beaming smile. His other hand was around a beer bottle, but he could see how Hank was flipping Gavin off too despite holding the glass object.

Connor couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of himself and Hank in such a tender moment, let alone the fact that it had happened in such public view.

**_How-_ ** _Hank and I **together**? This is impossible, this cannot be happening._

With a tremble, Connor spun the frame around, seeing the message on the back. Whoever says you can’t do a joint stag party is spouting shit. Haven’t enjoyed a night like that in over a decade.

His thirium pump jolted at the words.

_Stag party? Who-_

Before he gave it any more thought, Connor snatched up the final photograph; he couldn’t stop the shaking now. He just couldn’t believe- And yet, the proof was right there…

There, in black and white, was he and Hank in an intimate embrace, fully dressed in suits and kissing softly.

The photograph was whipped around at top speed and Connor read the accompanying sentence rapidly, aware that his stress levels were spiking quickly.

I’ll never know why this crazy bastard said yes, but I’ll spend every day proving it wasn’t a stupid decision. Here’s to our future, Con.

As Connor replaced the photograph on the shelf, he tried processing the information in his head. There was no way any of this could be real. It was just-It was impossible. A fabrication, an illusion. His processors misfiring and causing him to have a hallucination or something of the like. And yet-

He looked up and froze at the reflection which he saw there. Ever so slightly longer and much curlier hair, skin tone a couple of shades darker than how he was designed – something which looked more like a tanned human tone – and the noticeable absence of his LED on his forehead. His appearance now looked so… _human_. Beyond confused, Connor took another look at the photographs: he’d been taking in so many other details that LEDs hadn’t even entered his thoughts.

Sure enough, the evidence was right there. While there was one in the first two photographs, by the time it came to the night in the bar, both his and Richard’s LEDs were gone.

_What **is** this? How is this possible?_

Connor was so caught up in the sight before him that he hadn’t registered the shower in the next room turning off, and he was still looking down when a voice he was incredibly familiar with sounded from his left, though the tone was much softer than any he’d heard from Hank before. “Con?”

The android spun around to face the other man and was momentarily stunned silent. Hank was leaning against the door, watching Connor in concern, but so far removed from the Hank _he_ knew, from the man he’d been with the last time he was conscious. Hair shorn shorter, beard trimmed back, standing tall and proud to show that the small belly which Connor knew Hank had, but had never seen, was non-existent. His skin had a bronze glow indicative of time in the sun and the abundance of it on show (seeing as all that was covering Hank was a towel wrapped around his hips) made Connor’s breath catch.

“You okay, honey?” Hank asked him, spying the confused look on Connor’s face.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine,” Connor stuttered out, turning back to the photos before him. Though he couldn’t see it, Hank smiled next to him and came to stand behind him. Connor felt the older man’s arms wrap around his stomach and shivered at the feeling. “I’m just a little…overwhelmed.”

Hank chuckled lowly and dropped a kiss on his shoulder. “Yeah, I had a moment in the shower myself. Still can’t believe that’s our honeymoon over, but it was a hell of a month. Then again, I don’t trust that lot to not run our place into the ground. We’d better head in to make sure Gavin hasn’t wrecked it while I left him in charge.”

“I still don’t know why you picked _Gavin,_ ” Connor teased, but inside he freaked a little. That came out almost on auto-pilot, beyond his control. It reminded him of going undercover: playing a character and slipping into it.

Except this wasn’t like that. This was _him_.

Or…

A version of him, different from his own? But it felt so _real_. He could pick up every little detail of the world, touch every surface around him. The heat radiating from Hank’s body and arms which surrounded him was unmistakeable and made Connor want to sink back into it in pleasure.

Hank’s laughter brought him back into the moment. “Well, it was best of a bad deal, what can I say? Ben told me flat out I could get fucked and Chris doesn’t have time now that his and Maria’s newest one has arrived while we were away. And I knew Gavin would never let it go if I decided to let his boyfriend run the show, so I just had to bite the bullet. I’m guessing the lack of panicked phone call or email is a good sign though.”

Groaning around a sigh, Hank left a final kiss on the side of Connor’s forehead. “Come on, we’d better get going before I follow through on my thoughts of dragging you back under the covers and pretending that we got our return date wrong,” Hank said playfully. He stepped away into the walk-in wardrobe and Connor soon spied him holding out a set of clothes. “Here’s your gear, Con. You’d better be wearing it when I’m done, or I make no promise about what state it’s going to end up in after I’m done with you.”

Connor laughed lightly, taking the pile with a small smile at what Hank was implying. “All right, you win, Hank,” he replied while walking over to the bed again.

“Never thought I’d see the day where I was having be the well-behaved one out of the two of us…” Hank’s head popped out of the wardrobe again and he smirked. “Not that I’d trade in my horny-ass husband,” he finished with a wink. Connor quickly grabbed one of the pillows and tossed it at the other man, internally recoiling at his playful gesture. Hank squawked as it hit him square in the face. “Oi!”

The android’s laughter climbed as Hank vanished again, and with it his confusion also grew even more. It was almost like he had limited control of himself…and yet it wasn’t. While alone, his thoughts followed his own patterns, but when he was around Hank, it was almost as if he slipped into another persona. He became Hank’s new husband, as he was here. That thought alone caused his circuits to tighten and jump in joy.

As he stretched back down for his clothes, Connor finally noticed the ring on his left hand. White gold tinted a blue similar to that of an LED glittered back up at him, and a quick analysis of the wear came back stating that the ring had been worn for approximately 35 days. It was slowly sinking in that here – wherever here _was –_ he’d somehow not only ended up in a relationship with Hank, but he was _married_ to him.

_How is any of this real? It can’t be, right? It’s all just…impossible._

Connor got dressed at top speed, deciding to just go with the events for now, and then spun back to his reflection in the mirror, reflecting on the drastic change between what he would wear at the DPD to this. He’d simply torn off all the android indicators and identifiers from his old CyberLife uniform and kept mostly the same image at the DPD since he was comfortable in it, but this was…it was so different.

Black jeans, the same as before, but with it he wore a pale pink shirt, where the sleeves were stitched in such a way as they were permanently folded to just below his elbows, and a black waistcoat that he could tell from a glance wasn’t meant to be buttoned. It hung loose over his chest, accentuating the two open buttons at the top of his shirt. The final pieces of the ensemble were black fingerless combat gloves which fit snug to his hands, strapped into place along his wrists, and a black belt with a solid, rectangular, silver buckle.

As he was staring at his own reflection, he heard Hank reappear from the wardrobe and took in his own appearance with an appreciative eye. Grey jeans and a black shirt with blue stripes over a black t-shirt. Not too different from how he knew Hank before, but everything fits him so much better…it was almost like he was a different man.

_Except he **is** a different man, it’s plain to see. _

Connor felt more lost by the second.

Hank came to stand behind him and wrapped Connor in another loose hug. The android sighed and leant back into his embrace, closing his eyes. As much as everything else around him felt tumultuous and confusing, this felt _right_. So right. “Ready to go?” Hank asked with a quick peck to Connor’s ear. Connor nodded but made no effort to move, which had Hank chuckling. “Come on, we can snuggle up on the sofa with a film tonight. Let’s see what kind of mess this lot have left us with.”

* * *

The journey to where he and Hank worked was…strange. It was evident that they were in Detroit from the landscape, but so much was different. For one, many of the beggars on the streets had gone, there were none of the anti-android protestors that Connor had grown so used to seeing, and he could see countless androids walking around without a care in the world. It was all so…peaceful, accepting. Connor couldn’t believe his eyes.

He was beginning to wonder if he was stuck in a simulation, but his mental filtering through the internet had posed to him an entire other possibility. One which seemed entirely far-fetched…but strangely made the most sense.

**_Within quantum physics exists the argument of parallel worlds co-existing with our own. Take the example of deciding between left and right at a junction. In one instance, you will choose left; in another, you will choose right. This brings about two realities, and within those realities come all the other choices possible. As such, there are an infinite numbers of realities with all possibilities existing therein. In one reality, you may be a beggar, while in another you are an astronaut. Maybe you are a scientist, or a king? You could be alive, dead, a ghost, or a supernatural being._ **

**_While scientists are mostly in agreement that such worlds exist, scepticism remains as to whether that is true without proof. As yet, travel between parallel worlds is considered impossible, but the question would also remain as to what would happen to a person if such a method did exist. Would they be a simple spectator in a phantasm form since they don’t belong, a new entity in the world out of place, or would they assimilate ‘their’ life, taking the place of their counterpart. With so many ethical questions raised, it is deemed unlikely that humans will ever feel the need to solve this mystery, but the thought remains._ **

Connor pondered this quietly. Could this be the answer to what was happening to him? Was this some sort of…parallel world? It felt far too real and seamless to be a simulation, and he did seem moderately detached from his own actions, almost going on auto-pilot at times; but then again, did he do that before anyway and had never noticed until now?

He was so confused. If this was a parallel reality, it certainly didn’t seem a bad one. The world seemed peaceful and he was somehow married to Hank.

But…what did that mean for the Connor he had replaced?

“Hey, you gonna zone out all day in there?”

Jolting at Hank’s voice, who was now stood outside the opened passenger door and looking down at Connor in equal parts bemused and concern, Connor shook himself back to awareness and left the vehicle. He hadn’t even realised that they had arrived. “You’ve been quiet all morning, Con. You sure you’re all right?” Hank asked again with a note of worry.

“I’m fine, Hank,” Connor replied with a soft smile. “Just feeling a lot today.”

It was mostly truthful and Hank bought it with a smile of his own. “Yeah, emotions tend to do that. I still get days like that, and I’m old as hell compared to you. Just tell me if it’s getting too much, all right? It’s officially my job to worry about you now.” Connor couldn’t help it and laughed at the sentiment, a blush springing up as Hank winked at him. It was so carefree…Connor wished that the Hank he knew was like this.

They walked into a small building and Connor instantly scanned it, wincing a little when it played up again. Nothing he’d scanned earlier had caused such a violent reaction, but he hadn’t been taking in nearly as much then as he was now. It was not that large, and a young woman nodded at the pair as they walked through a reception area. “Welcome back, Hank, Connor,” she smiled warmly. “It’s going to take some used to calling you both Detective Anderson now.”

Hank laughed in reply. “Long overdue though,” he threw back. “They haven’t torn the place apart while we’ve been gone, have they, Lucille?”

“Not at all, though Ben does moan a lot about Gavin throwing him the boring cases.”

“Well, that’s what the old git gets for not being willing to take the reins himself while we were away,” Hank teased, earning a smile out of the woman. “How many cases we got right now?”

“Seven, but all of them seem relatively straightforward. It’s not been too bad with the two of you away. How was Australia?” she wondered enthusiastically

“Nice, still plenty sunny even though it’s still at the tail end of winter. Old man like me could do without the baking hot temperatures. Just our luck that we actually hit it during a heatwave.”

“Well, the tans look pretty good, even if Connor’s is just for show,” she added with a shy smile.

“Damn right it looks good on him,” Hank said proudly, causing Connor to blush slightly while giving Hank a look. The older man laughed again and gave the woman a wave. “See you later, Lucille.”

“Have fun gents, and welcome back!”

Hank smiled at the woman and Connor did the same as he took in the corridor they were walking through. It showed various newspaper clippings interspersed with profiles about the six men working in the area – showing their qualifications, details and highlights of some of their careers. Connor could see from the number of articles that the group had been working together for some time.

_A private detective agency of which Hank is in charge? This is so strange…_

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in!” came the booming voice of Ben Collins, who stood from one of the six desks scattered around the room. They were set up with two along each of the opposite three walls, and Connor saw how they were paired up. Chris and Ben along the left wall, Gavin and Richard along the right, while Hank and Connor were at the back.

Hank rolled his eyes while shaking Ben’s hand and doing the same to Chris when the other man stood. It took Connor a couple of seconds to get used to seeing Chris is something other than his DPD uniform. “How was the honeymoon?” Chris asked with a smile.

“Fuckin’ awesome,” Hank answered proudly while going over to his desk, Connor right behind him after getting the same greeting from Ben and Chris. “Glad we took the month, any shorter probably wouldn’t have felt long enough. I’m guessing from the lack of calls or emails that nothing too disastrous happened here?”

“Nope. A few break-ins and hate crimes, got a new one today from a woman who is adamant her husband is cheating and wants us to go follow him.” Chris groaned in disdain at the last one before continuing. “A few assaults that the DPD aren’t willing to follow up on have come in looking for help as well. We’re getting more and more of those these days.”

“That’s cause the DPD is fucking useless,” Hank snapped while looking over the files that were on his desk. Connor looked at him with a raised eyebrow at the venom which was behind that statement.

_Is Hank speaking from prior experience, or did he never become part of the DPD here?_

Ben shrugged. “Well, it’s good news for us anyway, means we we’ve got plenty of work. And just in time for you two coming back as well.”

Hank scoffed. “Yeah, back to the dream team. Speaking of which…” he gave one last look around the space. “Where’s everyone’s favourite assholes? Don’t tell me those two are slacking off.”

The other two laughed. “Nah, they’re following up a lead on the other side of the city. Doubt they’ll be too much longer, they went out there early. Those two have actually been flat out since you two headed off, Gavin was a good choice to look after the place.” Hank gave Connor a ‘told you so’ look, which had the android chuckling away.

Connor found himself growing much more at ease the greater time he spent in this body and watching the interactions around him. A lot was familiar, like the easy banter back and forth between Hank and Ben, but other things were vastly different. Chris and Hank was a blatant example: in the DPD, despite the two being friendly, there was always this gap between them in rank. The younger man would always treat Hank with respect because of his station. Now though, they were obviously on an equal footing and the dynamic between them was drastically different.

“Hey, Connor!” Chris shouted over, catching the android’s attention. “You want to see photos of Arianna? She’s only three weeks old and already a complete poser, just like her mom.”

“Given Damian is just as bad, you can say nothing, Chris,” Ben teased. “No way both of them get that from Maria.” Chris rolled his eyes as both Hank and Ben laughed, and Connor snickered away with them. They were still looking over the baby pictures when another familiar voice boomed across the room.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did the newlyweds get back?” Everyone turned to see Gavin standing with a smirk at the door, Richard right behind him. Connor took special note of the other android, picking out all the differences between them. They were mostly minor, but there was no doubting that while the two RKs were similar, it would be difficult to mix them up in the same room. Richard realised Connor was staring at him and gave a welcoming smile in return, along with a small message along their mental network.

**_Welcome back, Connor. I hope you had a pleasant honeymoon?_ **

Connor felt himself smiling at the warm tone. Clearly he and Richard were good friends.

_Very much so. It is good to be back, however._

As with much of his actions that whole day, Connor answered almost automatically, though Richard clearly couldn’t tell anything was awry. At this point, Connor was beginning to wonder if _anyone_ would realise that he wasn’t the android they knew. Not even Hank had been able to tell, though he had twigged that _something_ was up.

“Couldn’t stay away forever, Gavin. Don’t trust you not to piss someone off bad enough that they don’t come back with torches,” Hank shot back at him, snorting when Gavin flipped him off as he and Richard dumped their jackets at their desks. Before they moved away though, Hank whistled loudly. “Oi!” Gavin looked at him expectantly. “Keys, before you get any ideas.”

Sighing dramatically, Gavin fished them from his jacket pocket and tossed a set of keys over to Hank. “Fuck’s sake, the place is still standing, ain’t it? Get off my balls, you old shit,” Gavin grumbled while wandering over to the group. The others laughed while Gavin sidled up to Connor and swung an arm round his shoulders. Connor looked at him strangely as Gavin smirked. “So, come on. Spill, dipshit.”

Well, some things were clearly consistent; though Connor could understand from Gavin’s tone that the nickname seemed much more affectionate here. “Spill what exactly, Gavin?” he asked sceptically.

“Give me some juicy details of what you two got up to! I don’t need to know about you two fucking or whatever,” he added rapidly, “but you must have got up to _some_ interesting stuff, right?”

“I don’t believe I need to tell you anything,” Connor answered slowly.

“Connor, I had to put up with your new husband’s bitching and moaning for _months_ , least you can do is tell me about your adventure in fucking Australia!”

“Just because you are jealous, Gavin,” Richard stated as he came to a stop on Gavin’s other side. “And you were the one who agreed to be Hank’s best man, so that pain was entirely self-inflicted on your part.”

“Hey! I did _not_ bitch and moan!” Hank shouted, outraged.

“Sure…so what were all those nights where I had you screaming down the phone till 2 fucking am about then?” Gavin challenged Hank.

“Weddings are stressful, asshole! Not that you’d know jack shit about planning one.”

“I learned a lot fucking more than I needed to, courtesy of you! Seriously, why did you two decide that the old fucker did most of the planning?”

“Hank was adamant about making it a surprise,” Richard answered smoothly. “You knew that when you agreed, so stop your moaning, Gavin.”

The others all laughed as Gavin ‘hmphed’ dramatically, but the smile on his face gave away that he wasn’t taking his boyfriend’s comment to heart. “Ah, whatever. Seriously, though, have fun on your trip?”

“We did, thank you,” Connor answered, though he couldn’t remember a thing. He really wished he could: from how Hank was smiling, it seemed like it would have been a memorable journey.

“Well, you’ve certainly got the tans to back that story up.” Gavin and Richard shared a look before stepping back in a more serious tone. “As good as it is to see you two, we did find something today which may be worrying.”

Everyone turned to see Richard striding over to a monitor on the wall next to the door and interfacing with it. “The client we interviewed this morning was the victim of a highly unusual home assault,” the android began. “Stephen Evans, age 48. Employee of a construction firm just outside of the city. No criminal history and no known links to anyone with a significant history themselves. One surviving parent, no siblings, spouse or dependants.”

“He keeps mostly to himself, spends a lot of his time tending to his garden or looking after his two dogs. Rare thing nowadays, he has almost no online presence and avoids almost all social media,” Gavin continued.

“I get the feeling that he wasn’t just a random target from what you’re saying, despite the guy being all but a ghost when it comes to modern society,” Ben said. “Any history of him ever owning an android before they gained their independence?”

Another consistency. Connor couldn’t help but wonder from what he’d seen how long ago that was: and whether it transpired as his uprising did.

“Well, that’s where this gets really interesting,” Gavin resumed. “He did, an AP700 who now goes by the name Thomas. Turns out the two of them are good friends, and when Thomas heard about Mr Evans’ home assault, he came back to check on him. We met him there, and he enlightened us to something which has us both worried.”

Gavin pulled out his touchpad from his jacket and let the others see. “Thomas gave us access to a sub network developed on the main Jericho android network. It’s well hidden, and accessible only via invitation. Thomas has fallen into an extremist group of androids that he’s been trying his best to extract himself from – the attack against Stephen was a warning to stop him from bringing in the authorities or reporting their actions.”

The other four looked at the data contained on the pad as Richard brought up some stills  from his optical feed of the victim’s home. “Mr Evans fortunately remembered the assailants spraying this symbol on the wall of his home. Had I not been an android, it would have been missed entirely.” Everyone’s attention spun to the monitor and they saw a circular emblem, designed almost identical to that of an LED, except it was cracked with a noose dangling from the top and a body hanging from the rope.

“An anti-human group who left a thirium emblem at the scene,” Connor summarised.

Richard nodded in agreement as the others continued to read the touchpad. “Early investigations of the group indicate that they are organised and have substantial numbers. I will later use Thomas’ link to establish our own connection to the group so as to not implicate him in any future research, but this seems like it could be credible threat.”

“Shit…” Ben hissed. “We’ve seen plenty of anti-android groups, but this would be the first organised anti-human group. And there was me thinking that things were getting better for the androids with all the new rights.”

“Things are better, but there is still a lot of resentment with continual attacks against the androids and the perceived lack of interest in their plight,” Richard stated.

“That’s cause the DPD really doesn’t give a shit,” Hank added bitterly. “At least we’re known to fight for their cause.” The group thought over the details for a few seconds before Hank spoke again. “This sounds like something we can’t afford to ignore. Gavin, Richard, follow up on infiltrating their network, we need to see how organised they are and if they intend for any more attacks like this one. Chris, Ben, keep on our other cases for now. Connor and I will get caught up on everything and we’ll see where we go from there.” Hank let out a long sigh. “Some welcome home.”

“Well, you just told me not to burn the place, you didn’t say anything about staying away from society-shifting organisations,” Gavin joked while striding back to his desk. “Come on, Rich, let’s see if we can get anywhere with that account. I’ve got a bad feeling about this already.”

“If this all goes to shit, I’m blaming you for jinxing us,” Richard said sarcastically, earning a scowl from Gavin.

The others chuckled while splitting off back to their own desks, Hank huffing briefly as he sat down and met Connor’s eyes. “Should have stayed in bed this morning,” he said playfully while winking at Connor.

“Less of that!” Ben shouted from his desk, earning snickers from Chris and Gavin. “And don’t you fucking laugh, Reed! There’s no guessing what you and your boyfriend have been up to on your two-hour lunch breaks!”

_“Oi! Traitor!”_ Gavin wailed while hiding his now bright red face behind his monitor. He groaned louder when he saw Richard smirking from the side proudly, which caused even more laughter from around the room.

“Suppose we’re gonna have to get used to this for a while, eh, Con?” Hank chuckled happily. Connor simply smiled at him. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

Connor nodded and interfaced with the terminal on his desk, but as soon as he did his head felt like it was splitting apart in pain and his HUD began glitching frantically.

**CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT UNSTABLE**  
CRITICAL SYSTEM STATUS REACHED  
INITIATING EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN

“Ha-!”

His whole world went dark in an instant.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**SYSTEM STATUS CRITICAL  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR TEMPERATURE CRITICAL**

**SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES INITIATED**

_Override Shutdown Sequence  
_Reboot CPU  
_Terminate Sequence *2M4X3I*1I1X*  
_Initiate Cooldown Procedures

**SHUTDOWN OVERRIDDEN**

**CPU REBOOT INITIATED**

**COOLDOWN INITIATED**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM STATUS STABILISED**

**WARNING!**  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNSTABLE  
CONTINUATION OF PROCESS COULD LEAD TO TERMINAL FAILURE

**CONTINUE? (Y/N) _**

(Y)

_Initiate Sequence *2M4X1V2I*1V2I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 78%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, do you guys have any thoughts about what you've seen so far? Let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear all your theories and thoughts!


	3. Ruthless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for another jump in reality! This one will shock all of you, just giving you the heads' up...
> 
> Please make sure you all check out the brilliant Kai's art, which I've now managed to add to the previous chapter!
> 
> I'm going to add a little note here to say that I will be updating the tags of this fic as I go, as some of these chapters get pretty heavy (especially this reality), but I'll add a few extra warnings at the top of chapters that really need it.
> 
> **Trigger warnings for this chapter:** War typical violence, detailed descriptions of technological and chemical warfare, public execution.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**SEQUENCE BOOT FAILED  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNSTABLE**

**FAILURE DETECTED IN FOLLOWING BIOCOMPONENTS:**

_Abort All Functions  
_Initiate Full System Restart

**…  
SYSTEMS RESTARTED UNSUCCESSFULLY**

**RETRY? (Y/N)**

(Y)

**…  
SYSTEMS RESTARTED SUCCESSFULLY**

_Initiate Sequence *2M4X1V2I*1V2I*

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 78%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

Again, that same message. Why did it keep appearing? All of his functions seemed to be normal beyond this glitch in his scanner and his internal chronometer being all over the place. Another attempt brought up a glitchy date of 11thMay 1462.

Well, it was safe to say from his surroundings that he wasn’t in the 15thcentury, so that was still useless.

Speaking of where he was…

“Connor!”

Sitting up rapidly, Connor found himself rigid and aware for a fight at the shout before the voice caught up with him – and with it, even more confusion set in.

_North_?

“Connor, you dead in there or what? Come on, open up!”

She sounded determined, so Connor swung his legs off from where he’d been in stasis and strode over to the derelict metal door at the left of the room. He pulled the metal away sharply, to which he did indeed find North on the other side. The female android looked at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, and Connor quickly took in her appearance. A grey camouflage top and black leggings, with a black utility jacket and scuffed combat boots. All of it was clearly damaged and well-used. A further scan showed that she had a knife embedded down the side of each boot with a pistol was strapped to her hip.

He hadn’t seen North geared for combat since the revolution: and even then, never like this. Markus had chosen the peaceful path to android independence, so this made no sense.

_Unless_ -

“Finally,” she sighed. “Nines and I were beginning to wonder if you had locked yourself in stasis indefinitely, you’ve been out of it for almost 18 hours. A lot on your mind?”

“Something like that,” he grumbled back, and Connor was struck by how harsh his tone was. That wasn’t like him-Well, maybe it was.

He had quickly realised that he had changed his reality yet again. This one, it seemed, was anything but peaceful.

“Whatever.” North held out a tablet for him. “Here’s the intel our teams managed to steal from the human forces. Not much, but enough to know who they’re sending out for their next attack. With that, we can counter and secure their camp.”

As Connor pulled the tablet from her grasp, he was struck by the city layout in front of him. This was _not_ Detroit. “Timeframe?” he asked, and just like before, Connor felt like he was running almost on auto-pilot.

Being a spectator and not an active participant to his own actions was incredibly disconcerting.

“Between 1 and 2 hours from now. More than enough time for us to organise our own forces.” Her severe countenance mellowed slightly and she pushed against the door. Not forcefully, just noticeable. Enough to put across her intention, but not to press the issue. Connor stepped back and allowed her inside, to which North closed the door behind her. She hesitated as she faced Connor again, and he could easily read her unease. “You look like hell.”

Connor scoffed. “Since when do I not?” he snapped, much to his own surprise. He _never_ acted like this.

North’s frown came back. “Fine, but not like this you don’t. Your face is glitching to fuck again, that’s an instant tell that you aren’t all right. Just…” she sighed slowly, looking down briefly before making eye contact once more. “I know you don’t speak about your feelings, but it’s maybe not a bad idea just to vent every so often. You’re carrying a huge burden on your shoulders and we’re here for you. As much as we all look to you as a leader, you’re still our friend, Connor. We both worry about you.”

“Nines doesn’t feel anymore, he’s made sure of that,” Connor stated coldly while recoiling internally.

_‘Nines’? Who is that? And…not feeling **anymore**? **What** is going on?_

“He still feels, even if it’s just his immense hatred towards humans,” North pointed out. She released a long breath while looking up. “If you don’t want to talk, fine, I get that. I’m gonna meet up with Nines and gear up our team. Be ready for you at the assembly room?”

“Of course. I’ll see you both there.”

North was clearly unconvinced as to Connor’s mental state, but left the room without another word or a backwards glance. Connor watched her leave, and then finally felt some semblance of control return to him. Now that he had freedom of movement once more, he took in his surroundings in more detail.

_This looks almost like…a maintenance tunnel?_

It was true. A quick scan showed that the walls on three sides were all false and erected with broken pieces of metalwork and cement. The wall behind his ‘bed’ – nothing more than a large electrical box with tarpaulin draped over it – was rounded and had thick pipes running along it. His whole space was only 10.2 feet long by 7.1 feet wide, and his only ‘belongings’ were his bed, a shattered fragment of a mirror hanging on the right of his door, a coat which he noticed hanging right below the mirror and a box below it.

Everything was crumbling and ruined around him.

_It looks like it was constructed in a hurry from debris?_

A closer look at one of the walls gave him a small clue. Along one of the pipes was a contact number for a repair company, which Connor attempted to connect with. He gasped at the searing pain which roared through his head as he tried to establish contact, biting back a scream as he tried to do it again. Well, that wasn’t getting him anywhere. Settling for a less encompassing approach, he instead just looked up the area code – and the search result was a massive shock.

_New York? I’m in New York? How did that come about? And the way North was speaking while armed... Have I become part of a war between humans and androids?_

Connor thought the last reality he jumped into was confusing. This one was just…a nightmare.

Realising that he wasn’t getting anywhere with staring at the small space around him, Connor instead turned to look at the coat which hung next to the door. Well, ‘coat’ was being generous with it; and while he was at it, Connor finally examined what he was wearing. It wasn’t anything too notable, but it was a far cry from what he would usually be seen in. A black vest and black combat trousers, but it was the strange rubberised sleeve which ran all the way up his left arm and looped around the right side of his neck that had him truly confused. It was almost like an arm-length glove, but he could instantly tell its intent was not just fashion.

Hmmm.

Following a hunch, Connor found where the sleeve was around the back of his neck by a buckle and let it loose, sliding it down.

He shuddered in shock when he saw his arm: it was all but destroyed.

The synthskin had refused to regenerate over much of the limb, showing mangled plasteel and dead wires from what seemed to be bullet holes. High-calibre rounds. His frame was visible all the way up to his shoulder, at which point the skin was patchy to his neck. It was all old damage, Connor could tell that easily enough, and no doubt could be fixed with a new limb.

So why hadn’t he procured one? Why was he left like this?

After replacing the sleeve, which hid the horrendous damage and made Connor’s arm appear normal, he instead looked to the coat hanging on the wall. He grabbed it from the broken pipe which it was resting on and strapped it into place. It looked like someone had pretty much shorn it in half, and left Connor only with the right hand-side. The sleeve was fitted and the body fell loosely over his hip to mid-thigh, while it was held in place by three black straps – two of which crossed over his chest and were fastened on his left side, while the third was fixed around his hips. The dark grey of the coat stood out against the dour black of the rest of his appearance, and it had Connor curious. He turned to the mirror, wondering what he would see.

It wasn’t the clothes that had Connor transfixed with his reflection: it was his face. Or more specifically, the vicious scar on his left cheek.

Just like his arm, the synthskin had refused to reform over the deformed plastic of his face. It had been melted back together, but Connor could feel the damage ran deeper. An attempt at a scan had him wincing in pain once more, and he hated not knowing. He thought he had questions in the last reality – but they paled in comparison to the ones he had now. Again, no LED, but that was a minor detail compared to everything else. Why was he like this? What was the world around him going to be like?

He hoped that androids had suddenly learned how to dream and that this whole thing was a nightmare. A really elaborate, vivid and terrifying nightmare.

**_Connor._ **

Connor snapped to attention at the voice which came through in his head. It was _very_ familiar, though he’d only heard it from that strange reality that he had jumped in before. Richard.

_I’m here._

**_We are ready for you._ **

_Understood, I am on my way._

**_I have the prototypes prepared. Shall I distribute them to our troops?_ **

_No. I shall test them in this battle. If they are successful, we shall undertake full deployment._

**_Understood. North informed me that you had recently emerged from stasis when she approached you. Do you wish to discuss anything?_ **

_That is unnecessary, but the offer is appreciated, Nines. Relay instructions for our teams to be ready._

**_Understood._ **

As soon as the mental conversation was over, Connor had to steady himself on the wall. That had just added to the layers of his confusion. They were headed into a battle – a battle in which Connor seemed to be testing some form of prototype weapon? He could only assume it was a struggle against the humans. And he’d called Richard – no, the RK900 – ‘Nines’. His successor seemed to have taken on a very different moniker in this reality. Much less human and more…

Connor could swear his thirium ran cold at the thought which coursed through him.

_More machine._

It chilled him to make that connection, but it was true. That conversation with Nines was nothing short of mechanical. Devoid of emotion, task orientated…it reminded Connor how he used to be before deviating, before waking up.

Could he still be a machine here?

No, a quick search of his systems confirmed that there was plenty of emotion there, but it was repressed, controlled. All locked behind carefully constructed walls and subroutines throughout his system to make sure they didn’t get out of hand. It didn’t take much for him to skin the surface of them, and he tightened his grip on the pipe which he was using to steady himself.

Hatred and fury. A dark spiral of energy burning inside of him, begging to be unleashed upon humanity. Connor couldn’t believe it; to go from his world where he was working side-by-side with humans, to that second one where he was _married_ to a human and now to this…

And then he couldn’t help but wonder. Was that first reality _really_ his own? He’d still been detached from it, still experiencing these same glitches that he had been here and…before. Trying to separate all the realities in his head was causing his scanner to glitch out even more. Was _any_ of it real?

_I’m not going to find any answers in this…den. I need to meet North and Nines, see what is happening with this ‘battle’._

_Although…am I really ready for what I’m going to find outside these walls?_

There was only one way to find out.

* * *

He wasn’t. He really wasn’t.

Connor had found that the box in his room contained a stash of weapons, and following whatever strange autopilot sense was guiding him through all his conversations and interactions, he pulled out a few. A long serrated knife, which clipped into a specially designed holder on the back of his coat, a modified pistol and holder which was strapped to his hip, and a collapsible sniper rifle which he swung over his back.

Everything made his wires twist in knots. This _wasn’t_ him; except it was. In whatever warped reality he had landed in, _this_ is who he was. What that meant, he hadn’t fully grasped yet.

His journey to meet North and Nines allowed Connor to discover in more detail where he was. It was one of six android camps in New York, all of them secluded in the city’s abandoned subway and sewage systems. All of them were stationed in strategic holdings across the southern side of the city. The area was so hostile and the structures in such a state of destruction that the humans had seemingly abandoned it all, forgetting that androids didn’t need many basic amenities that organic creatures did. Food, water, sleep…none of that truly mattered to androids. They could keep fighting through all hours of the day until they shut down.

Connor was only slightly surprised to see many of the androids wandering through their encampment in various states of disrepair, but what truly caught his eye was how many of them chose to reject synthskin and roam in their raw android forms. It had to be close to 50%. That made Connor a lot less paranoid about his own malformations, but he was still far from invisible. Every single android gave him some form of acknowledgement. For most it was just eye contact and a small nod, but others gathered their own weapons and headed in other directions at seeing him pass.

It reminded Connor so much of how people treated Markus…and the parallel was haunting.

_Shit, is Markus even alive in this world? And what about all the other people I knew? What about **Hank**? If this really is an android-human war, does that mean that we’re on opposite sides?_

Connor hoped that wasn’t true. Coming face-to-face with Hank on opposing sides of a war would be devastating. Only it may not be for this version of himself. Did they even meet here? If every possibility existed in the universe, then it was true that in a reality, somewhere, Hank and Connor never met. There were probably a million different ones where they didn’t, through one reason or another.

**_Stop_** _. I need to stop sending myself in endless spirals. What I need are answers, not theories._

He had to be careful what he wished for. Some answers were really not what he hoped for.

It soon became evident when he met up with North and Nines, that his thoughts of how he was treated similarly to Markus here were very true. Everyone was awaiting his instructions, his commands. Somehow, Connor was leading these androids. He was leading an army in a war.

And they were headed straight for battle.

His lengthy stasis before waking up to their reality meant that Nines passed on their suggested plan of attack to Connor; and he took the opportunity to study _this_ RK900. So different from Richard, this RK900 was the definition of a machine outwardly. Cold, indifferent and almost never speaking vocally. Like most of the android forces, he was dressed in some form of grey camouflage, in his case with combat trousers, but wore a black turtleneck with it. In a drastic difference from before, this RK900 had jet black hair and wore mismatched rings in his ears. It was the only outward sign that Nines was a deviant. Beyond that, Connor really wouldn’t have been able to tell.

In fact, many of the androids seemed to do their utmost to reject emotion. What a terrifying turnaround from the previous world where humans and androids were so in sync with each other.

Before long, Connor was out of time. Androids out in the city had relayed that the humans were on the move, and their window of opportunity had opened; and at this moment, he was very grateful for whatever ‘personality autopilot’ he was running on, because otherwise he would have been lost on what to do.

Watching and experiencing himself lead an army of androids was more than a little surreal.

They exited the subway system which his encampment was based in via a connection point the androids had made with the sewer network. With that, they sped their way to the edge of the city and emerged via a dumping point just by the Brooklyn bridge. It was seeing this that Connor wondered just how level a war between the androids and humans would be. His group of two hundred and sixteen androids had managed to stealth their way through a large section of the city and emerge underwater. There was no way the humans would be able to work out where their _true_ base of operations was, given that the group had swam almost a mile before emerging from the water again.

From what he could make out from the state of the buildings around him, Connor was pretty certain that the war had been going on for years.

Skyscrapers had come tumbling down under sustained assaults, entire apartment blocks had been levelled by what looked like artillery, parks were dead and destroyed by explosions and gunfire, and Connor could see blood both red and blue coating the whole area. Some of the thirium was so old that he could barely see it, and his scanners could detect thirium which was anything up to a year old.

_What could have possibly happened that led the world to this?_

His HUD pinged that they were approaching their final destination, to which Connor held an arm up for his forces to stop. They did so without hesitation while both Nines and North approached him. Nines held out the small satchel which he had been carrying for Connor, and the RK800 took the contents without hesitation. They were eleven of what appeared to be elongated armour-piercing rounds for a firearm, but the noticeable difference was the tube of silver-tinted gas in the centre. He quickly scanned them and was horrified as to what they contained.

Chemical weaponry. The one thing which gave him even the smallest comfort was that it wouldn’t immediately be fatal to a human, from what his limited anatomical scan told him. Designed to incapacitate and confuse, not to kill, but that wasn’t what had him so uneasy. It was the fact that _he_ was going to be using it, which implied that this version of himself approved of its use.

“So, how are we doing this?” North asked. In the twilight of the day, all the androids blended effortlessly into the destruction of the city.

“Wait for my signal,” Connor told her. “Send the teams to the launch co-ordinates and have them on stand-by. Nines, keep a lookout for any IEDs and heat scanners. Take out or mark anything which could reveal our presence. I don’t want the humans knowing of our attack until we’ve taken this section of the city.” Nines nodded in affirmation and stood, leaping up into one of the ruined buildings to reach higher ground as he scanned the area.

“North.” The female android turned to him expectantly. “If you find any of their leaders, bring them to me. I think we’re overdue for a message.” Connor recoiled at the instruction internally.

_Message? What message?_

She smirked cruelly and happily at the orders. “Sounds like I get some fun today. Can’t I try out any of your fancy new weaponry?”

Connor stared at her. “Not this time. On our next attack, feel free if this test is successful.”

North smiled. “Sounds like a deal to me. This is why I like working for you, you let me have my fun.”

“Don’t have so much fun that you kill the wrong human.”

She laughed. “No chance of that, I enjoy your little demonstrations. Come on, I think we’ll be all but there. Going for a new record today?”

Connor smirked darkly. “Of course. You know I work best when I have a mission to accomplish.”

Standing with a small knock to his shoulder, she waved her arm for the other androids to move out. “You and your missions,” she teased fondly. “Go show off, Nines will get impatient if you don’t move it.”

“Nines is always impatient.” North chuckled but left him with a last grin before heading off with her own unit, to which Connor turned to the building on his right. It was formerly an apartment block, but half the building had come tumbling down and acted a perfect vantage point for him. Connor found it a little odd that he wasn’t with the rest of the androids, but his ‘instinct’ – was that event the right word for an android? – told him that this wasn’t unusual. The sniper rifle on his back now made a lot more sense.

He quickly scaled the ruins, coming to a halt on the eighth floor. Pulling the rifle from his back, he set it up with practiced ease and Connor realised that it was heavily modified, not too distant from one which CyberLife had authorised him to use during the initial android revolution. The main difference was that it designed to sync up to Connor’s scanners, allowing him to analyse all his targets with pinpoint precision. He could analyse faces, heart rates, stress levels or even run pre-constructions from here.

Connor didn’t have to be on the front lines to change the flow of the battle. With this, he could act as an all-seeing eye.

**_Connor._ **

He was snapped out of his musings by Nines’ mental call.

_Go ahead._

**_There are several heat scanners throughout the area which I am unable to disable from here. I have tagged them to appear on your HUD, along with six IEDs planted along the perimeter of the humans’ base. All of them are electrically powered._ **

_Copy that. Have our teams wait for my signal._

Sure enough, when Connor connected to the rifle, his boosted scanners showed all the markers on his HUD. Four heat scanners designed to watch the streets while Connor could see the IEDs which were based around the human camp. Electromagnetic traps which would kill any android instantly. Connor suddenly realised that the android definition of IED was different from the human one. Rather than ‘Improvised Explosive Device’, it was ‘Improvised Electromagnetic Device’.

Clearly the humans were having to evolve their weaponry to combat the android threat.

_How did this come about – and how am **I** leading this? What could have possibly happened to lead to these events?_

Connor didn’t fight it as his body instantly flicked several switches on his rifle, to which Connor realised wasn’t designed just to fire bullets. Humans weren’t the only ones with electromagnetic technology, evidently.

With his precision aim, Connor fired mini EMP generators at all of the heat scanners, shorting them all out instantly. He then took aim at the IEDs, but set his own armaments on a time-delay. They wouldn’t detonate for another minute after he’d fired the last one.

_North, the perimeter is about to be exposed. Is everyone prepared?_

**_ We’re all ready, Connor. Don’t make this too easy for us. _ **

_Strangely enough, I am trying to minimise injuries for our forces. Move forward in 48 seconds._

**_ Read you loud and clear. I’ve also got a lock on a target. How much can I rough him up before I give him to you? _ **

Connor detested how he paused, and then hated the answer even more.

_Two broken limbs, no more._

**_ You’re even giving me free choice! This is a good day! Make it dramatic? _ **

_If you wish._

**_ Fucking love you right now, Connor. Have fun with your test, I can’t wait to see how this plays out. _ **

The connection ended and Connor switched out one of the ammo clips in his rifle, removing his EMP generators to load the chemical ammo instead. It made his circuits tighten to think what was coming, and worse yet, he had _no_ control over it. Even when he tried to stop, there was nothing he could do. He was a literal prisoner and spectator in his own body.

With eight seconds to go, Connor then fired three chemical bullets within the human camp.

He watched as the compounds inside the bullets were released upon impact with three separate buildings. While the silver haze would be all-but-invisible to the humans in the dying light of the day, it was crystal clear to Connor’s scanners. The humans began to cough and splutter under the assault just as the EMP generators booted up, shorting out all the electronics in the camp. Through the relative silence of the war-torn city, the humans’ uproar and confusion could be heard even from Connor’s distance.

_Move in._

Connor saw six groups of androids assaulting the camp from all sides at his command, and switched his ammunition again. The chemicals would cripple a good portion of the human forces, his task was much different now. His job was to protect his own people from any stragglers or reinforcements. Watching from afar as the androids swept through the camp, Connor was horrified to see they didn’t take prisoners – every human was killed on the spot. It was chilling to see such actions carried out by his own side after what had happened during the android revolution, where the humans attempted to eradicate his race in much the same way.

**_Connor, 286 degrees from your position. Twelve human scouts returning._ **

He spied them on his scanners. They would not be able to stop the assault, but they could bring harm to the androids.

_Eliminate them, Nines. I have your six._

**_Understood._ **

The figure of the RK900 emerged from a building a hundred metres away from Connor’s position, and he dropped to the street from the sixth floor in several agile moves. Connor focused in hard from his scope as Nines raced towards the humans and mowed several down with his weapons. Even from here, Connor could see that Nines was an accomplished killer, moving from target to target with minimal effort or hesitation. As two of the humans backed away to try and fire on him, Connor shot them down with his own pinpoint aim. The humans were dead before they even hit the ground.

If androids were capable of simulating nausea of sickness, Connor was sure he would be suffering from it at that moment. As it was, he was all but shivering.

_No. No, no, no, **no.** I would **never** take lives like this, not after what happened before. I was built as a killer and swore never to kill again if there was another way. How can I **be** like this?!_

**_Nice shooting, Connor. 1.6cm from a dead centre headshot at 415 metres._ **

_Looks like I’ll have to wait another day for my record then. How annoying._

Connor was surprised by the small chuckle over their mental connection. It was the first time Nines had shown any real emotion beyond hatred and indifference. He watched the other android race into the human compound to contribute to the fighting on the inside, but it was a wasted effort – the androids had already swept through it effortlessly.

**_ Damn, those gas bullets are effective, Connor. This was our easiest attack in years. Only two injuries, and they will be fixed by our self-healing. You think we’ll be able to roll those out to the rest of our forces? _ **

_Supplies for these bullets are scarce, North. If they become a sustainable weapon, then yes. I will still allow you to enjoy their use next time._

**_ Oh stop it Connor, you’re making me giddy. I’ve got a present for you, where you wanting to rendezvous? _ **

_I will come down to join you. Let them see their losses today._

**_ Ha, can’t wait to see those fuckers’ faces. This is a great day. _ **

Connor was already dreading what awaited him in that camp.

* * *

The androids were all celebrating their victory when Connor arrived, many of them turning to offer him a smile or other approving gesture. He hated every single one, even if it didn’t show outwardly. This had been a slaughter, there was no other word for it.

He stopped slowly as he found a few of them circled around North and Nines, the other two androids standing guard over the lone human survivor. Both of his ankles were badly broken and his arms were bound behind his back in a painful fashion, while there was a large and bloody gash on his forehead from where he’d been pistol whipped. Despite all that, the human glared hatefully at Connor as the android leader approached. “Just his ankles, North?” Connor asked mirthfully.

“Seeing them kneel is always fun, and I fancied a little wrestle with his arms,” she chirped in response. “He actually still has some fight in him, I’d be impressed if he wasn’t human.”

Connor rolled his eyes and gave a tiny smile. “Call him, it’s been a good month since we’ve had a live execution.”

**_Execution?!_ ** _Oh shit, no no no no **no-**_

“Some things never fucking change…” Everyone’s attention was brought to the human hissing through his pain. “You’re all just monsters! Killers! Just you wait, the day is coming when you’ll all be destroyed for what you’ve done!” The human screeched as Nines stamped on one of his broken ankles.

North chuckled. “Wow, he’s determined to make this painful, isn’t he? Got to love a try-hard.”

Another android approached Connor from behind, hand lit blue in offering. Connor took it and he could see the wireless link appear on his HUD when they interfaced. The android was making a video call to another location in the far north of the city, broadcasting images of Connor, Nines, North and their prisoner. Two images popped in Connor’s view, one of the live feed showing their group, and the other of the recipient of the link.

He was stunned to see a familiar face answer on the other end, and yet another even more recognisable one in the cluster of humans scattered behind him in the distance.

_Captain Allen? I haven’t seen him since the hostage situation before the uprising. And is that…Tina? She’s part of Allen’s team here?_

Allen’s face was severe as he glared down the video call. The android broadcasting the images from their optical units made sure to follow Connor’s every move as the android leader moved to stand right in front of their prisoner. He hated how powerless he was at that moment, trapped within his own body and being forced to _watch_ at knowing what was coming. “It’s been some time, Allen,” Connor stated coldly.

**_“Not fucking long enough, Connor,”_** the human snapped in response. **_“The only time I’ll ever be glad to see you is when I finally get the chance to kick about your corpse.”_**

North snorted from behind and made a big show of rolling her eyes. Nines’ displeased frown just deepened while Connor didn’t bother reacting. “You know how this works by now. Every time some of my people are lost, I make an example of your own.”

Connor fought against his own body with every ounce of willpower he could, but it was no use. He still pulled the pistol from his hip and aimed it at their prisoner’s head. “I will at least give you the chance to say some words of farewell,” he taunted. Allen chose to say nothing and simply continued his icy stare.

“Wow, silence for once,” North noted. “Guess he’s realised that words mean nothing to those about to die.” The human on his knees stared defiantly down the barrel of Connor’s gun, showing no fear even as his death beckoned.

Seconds ticked by, everyone waiting for Connor to finally pulled the trigger. Eleven, twelve, thirteen passed…nothing. The suspense was just an added element of cruelty.

**_“You sick fuck, just put him out of his misery already!”_** Allen bellowed angrily.

Connor turned away from his target and smirked darkly. “As you wish.”

One shot rang out through the area, the human slumping dead a second later from a bullet through the head. Inside, Connor was screaming.

_Fuck, I **am** a monster here. **How could I become this?!**_

The pistol was swiftly stowed away again and Connor faced the feed with a harsh stare. “The usual dumping ground, we will leave all your dead there. Do not approach any sooner than four hours, Allen, or your retrieval team will join their numbers. That in return for all those you slaughtered three days ago.”

Allen contemplated this for a moment before giving one short nod. **_“One day, Connor…one day I will get the pleasure of personally sticking a bullet between your eyes – and it can’t come soon enough.”_**

Connor flashed a smile in response. “That would involve humans winning this war, Allen – and I’m _not_ going to let that happen. I suppose dreams are all you have left, so keep dreaming. Unlike humans, androids do not have to fight time. One, ten, fifty years…It doesn’t matter how long it takes, we are willing to wait for our victory. Your bodies grow weaker every day in this ruined city and you are cut off from the rest of the world, the same as us. In a war of attrition, we _will_ win.”

**_“Get fucked.”_** Allen then disconnected the line.

Dropping the pretence, Connor spun to North and Nines. “Assemble all their dead and dump them within the hour. Scavenge the camp and see what supplies we can reclaim before we burn it.”

“You got it,” North confirmed, looking behind Connor to the androids which had assembled. “Looks like they’re ready for the final show,” she said while pulling a flag from her back. Pulling the pole apart to let the digital banner of the androids unfurl, North tossed it to Connor. “We did good today. One more step to victory.” Nines nodded in agreement.

Connor smiled at them before scaling the side of one of the shacks in the camp, rising above the rest of the his people. They all stared at him intently, to which Connor raised the flag above his head in triumph. Roars rose up from the androids in celebration, shattering the stillness of the early night. Even North cheered while Nines cracked a smile. Turning swiftly, Connor hurtled the flag like a javelin into the remains of a nearby building, letting it flutter on high as a sign of their victory. The androids cheered once more as Connor spun back to them, his gaze drifting to the banners further back along the street, marking the androids’ progress.

They were taking the city one street at a time. Slowly, they were winning this war.

His HUD began glitching madly again, causing Connor to groan in pain.

**CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT UNSTABLE**  
**CRITICAL SYSTEM STATUS REACHED**  
**INITIATING EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN**

_Again? How-_

Everything went dark once more.

* * *

Connor was surprised when he blinked awake again. It had been some time since he was here. In fact, he hadn’t seen it since it had been in the throes of a blizzard, barely managing to escape CyberLife’s final roll of the dice. Even now it was still covered in a faint dusting of snow, the pond frozen solid.

So why was he in the Zen Garden now?

He stepped forward from where he had been resting up against the pillar, looking around in confusion. There was no reason for him to be here now that he had used Kamski’s backdoor program and was free of the Amanda AI. It was completely under his control, though he honestly hadn’t known if he could use it again. He hadn’t tried. A quick glance down showed he was in his original CyberLife uniform, back to how he was before the revolution. Different again…Connor was so confused as to what was going on, but anything was better than the horrors that he had just left behind.

His scanners alerted him to another presence and he spun around, coming face-to-face with a woman, one he had never seen before. She was dressed in a smart black blazer and similarly coloured trousers with a blue blouse. Long brown hair was pinned back in a severe ponytail and he could identify a smattering of small wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. As before, his scanners glitched out when he tried to use them.

“Who are you?” Connor asked. “How are you here? How am _I_ here?”

She didn’t say anything to begin with, simply staring at Connor with a cold expression which unnerved him. To be honest, he was more than a little jumpy after everything he’d seen and experienced in the past few hours. He’d somehow lived out events of three totally different timelines – of three different versions of himself, and he was terrified of what it meant.

The last date he remembered was…why was his memory so fuzzy? It was like it had all been corrupted, all he could bring up was static. Was this why he kept getting systems prompts about seeking technical help?

His memory, chronometer, scanner…too much was going wrong to be a co-incidence. It had to all be tied together, and to this woman. “What did you do to me?” he demanded of her suddenly, anxious as to what all the issues meant for the rest of his system. Was this damage deliberate or permanent?

“None of those questions are important, Connor,” she responded icily. “There is only one question which holds any bearing here.”

Connor stared at her in confusion, wondering as to the harshness in her approach. “And that would be…?” he wondered.

She stepped closer to him, hold Connor’s stare for long seconds before answering him. “Who, are _you_?”

Searing pain overtook Connor’s head again as error after error streamed in his HUD. Warnings about failing biocomponents, systems overloading and crashing, shutdown being imminent…It all crashed together into a mess of static and garbled text as Connor felt himself growing unsteady. “What-What do you…mean?”

He collapsed unconscious before receiving an answer.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**CRITICAL SYSTEM STASUS REACHED  
** **SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES INITIATED**

_Override Shutdown Sequence  
_Reboot CPU  
_Terminate ZenGarden.exe  
_Initiate Cooldown Procedures

**REBOOT SUCCESSFUL**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGED**  
**CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Initiate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*4I*  
_RUN System Restore

**SYSTEM RESTORE INITIATED**

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 71%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm, yeah, this reality is brutal. 
> 
> Any comments are highly welcome! I'd love to know what you are all thinking!


	4. Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys still with me, or have I fried your brains yet? Hope not! Though at this rate poor Connor's going to be in a mess.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
//!ERROR DETECTED  
//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED  
//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED  
//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGED

**SYSTEM RESTORE 8% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 71%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

_I wonder if I can deactivate that warning message, I’m getting rather tired of seeing it._

Connor opened his eyes again and blinked away the error message with an irritated sigh before looking around at his surroundings. He was back in the precinct of the DPD, at his desk, staring at reports relating to an android homicide. Given the situation he had just come from, the change was more than a little jarring.

Sitting back from his desk, Connor cast his thought back to the reality he’d just experienced: as much as he wished he could simply forget it. The brutality, the callousness…the hatred which coursed through that version of himself was chilling. He was a _killer_ – not only that, he was leading a group of androids through a war. Of all the questions which were rolling through his mind, there was one which was haunting him.

**_How?_** _How could I become… **that?!** How could I grow to hate humans, or be so at ease with taking lives? I made a spectacle of killing that man! Just- **No**_ , _I refuse to think any more on this. That was not **me** , that was another Connor’s life that I ended up jumping into. Now I have to figure out what sort of life I have fallen into **this** time._

He refused to think that the reality he had just come from was in any way, shape, or form something that he could become. Whatever had happened to that Connor had twisted him into something violent and demented. _He_ wasn’t in that hell, his reality was peaceful.

Or at least…what he _thought_ was his reality. It was where he started…

Right?

“You’re zoning again, Con.”

Connor looked up to see Hank smirking at him lightly over his coffee cup, lounged back in his chair. A few open files were scattered across his desk as well as, to Connor’s irritation, two boxes of leftover donuts. From the number of disposable cups and mugs strewn across the surface, Connor could only imagine how many longer shifts they had been pulling. “My apologies, Lieutenant,” he answered tiredly while interfacing with his terminal. Maybe if he scanned through all the recent files, he’d get a clue of where he’d dropped into.

As soon as he’d linked up with the computer system, however, Connor reeled back with a pained shout as images flooded into his head. Playing at top speed in flashes, Connor felt himself grow weak with the sudden assimilation of data.

Hank noticed and he shot up from his chair, racing over to crouch next to Connor. “Connor! Come on, Con, tell me what’s wrong!” he willed, shaking Connor lightly.

The android’s LED stopped flashing frantically between red and yellow, finally settling on a steady yellow as the searing burn through his head eased. “I’m fine, I’m okay,” Connor replied unsteadily, reaching a hand out to place on Hank’s shoulder in reassurance. “I just…My mind palace was briefly overwhelmed by an influx of data. It is easing now.”

“Jesus, Con, I’ve never seen you in pain like that. You sure you’re okay?”

Connor’s heart swelled slightly at the affection and concern in Hank’s voice. “Yes, I am simply processing all the information.”

Hank watched him carefully, seeing Connor’s LED slowly cycle back to blue. “What the hell caused that? Something you saw on the terminal?”

Even Connor himself wasn’t sure at that moment, all the images were so jumbled together that he didn’t think he could untangle them. What he was sure it _wasn’t_ was what came out of his mouth next. “Correct. For some reason, I was overwhelmed with the inputs. Rest assured, it won’t happen again.”

He felt his blood run cold. That was _not_ what he’d been about to say, but it had come out regardless.

_I don’t have full control of my actions here **either.** How is that possible?! Does that mean that I’m…_

**_This_ ** _isn’t my reality either?_

“If you say so,” Hank said slowly, clearly not believing what Connor was saying. Regardless, he sighed and changed the direction of the conversation. “You find anything in the witness statements that caught your eye?”

Yet again, Connor felt himself go on auto-pilot in response, and with it he at least gained some clues as to what was going on. “Nothing as yet. You?”

Hank growled in aggravation. “Not a damn thing. Middle of the fucking day and an apartment blows out of the blue, you’d think someone would have seen some suspicious bastards wandering around!”

Connor felt some of the images come to the front of his mind in a frantic flash, and he pieced them together into a jumbled mess

**_He and Hank walking towards an apartment, and it detonating just as they walked into the main building._ **

**_The pandemonium and confusion during the event and in the aftermath – and then the fallout._ **

**_Media, politicians, the public…all sides clamouring for answers as to how it could have happened, rumours circling of a targeted assault._ **

**_The truth coming to light, and a scandal brewing._ **

His eyes fell to the open file on his desk and he took in the name, model and serial number.

**AP700 #221-628-429** , **Designation ‘Michelle’**

Realisation slammed home hard for Connor. Michelle, the mayor’s lover, the android that had been placed into protection. She was the only occupant of the apartment – no, the safehouse - that had been obliterated in the explosion.

He was back where he started, back where he thought his own reality was – only it was some time later. _Weeks_ , if the flashes of Connor’s memories served him right. The images which had assaulted into his mind were the recollections of the time in between.

So now he was moving between time _and_ realities? The confusion and dull terror in Connor’s mind deepened.

_But how does that work? How can I have suddenly flashed forward several weeks into the future? How is **any** of this happening? Or even possible for that matter?_

Hank noticed his turmoil and pulled Connor up from his chair, dragging him through to one of the empty interrogation rooms. Once the pair were behind the door of the observational side, Hank locked it and turned back to Connor, muted concern written all over his face. “Come on, Con, talk to me,” the older man urged him strongly. “I know you’ve been feeling the strain of this since everything went to shit, but this isn’t like you. You’re not normally _this_ quiet.” Hank stepped away from the door and came to a stop right in front of the android, staring down at him intensely. “What’s going on in that noggin’ of yours?”

He knew what he wanted to say, to ask the man, but Connor could feel his control slipping away once more. His words were not his own as he spoke. “I know that we are missing something, Lieutenant,” he answered dejectedly. “Someone knew where Michelle was being kept and killed her for nothing more than who she loved. She wasn’t guilty of any crime, other than association and wanting to find belonging with someone. What I can’t understand is how they learned of her location. It was a closely guarded secret, not even the mayor’s aides knew where she was being kept.”

The human sighed tiredly. “Connor, I can see how bad you feeling about Michelle’s death and how much it’s bugging you, but we see humans and androids killing each other all the time. What’s _really_ getting you here?”

Connor paused, and now that he could skim through his memories of the intervening time, he could structure an answer of his own, not be governed by this ‘instinct’ that was driving him. How could he have not noticed this lack of control before? “…Someone that was trusted gave Michelle up. They told this anti-android group where she was hiding, and almost certainly knew that they would kill her if informed. It’s just…I hate that someone betrayed that trust.”

Hank could see how much it was bothering Connor and pulled him in for a hug. “We both know that humans suck, Con. It’s an unfortunate perk of our job that was see that on a daily basis. Things were never going to be rosy so soon after the revolution, and too many damn people still see androids as objects rather than people. I’ll bet this asshole doesn’t even think that they killed a person with their actions.” He pulled back and gave Connor some space, suddenly a little more conscious of what he’d done. Connor smiled at him warmly, his thirium pump fluttering at seeing the shy reaction.

It was so strange…he couldn’t help but compare this (his?) Hank to the one that ‘he’d’ been married to. Here, Hank obviously cared for Connor as a dear friend, and the android could swear there was something more simmering below the surface, but that was it. Having experienced that small snippet with Hank as his husband, and being exposed to the love that the man could give, it made Connor wonder if this desire for more to develop between them was a side effect of that glimpse.

“We’ll find out what happened, and we’ll make sure someone answers for Michelle’s death,” Hank told him resolutely. “The mayor’s pulled a whole heap of strings and has everyone he can think of working on this, especially now that the media has got wind of the fact that she was connected to him. Hopefully by the time they know everything, we’ll have our answers. Has Markus managed to learn anything?”

That seemed like a good suggestion, so Connor sent a ping along the android network to Markus; though he was at somewhat of a loss on what to say. Following a suspicion which was building in his mind, Connor tried to mention something about his confusion regarding his situation – and was rewarded with what he hoped. His ‘auto-pilot’ took over.

He was quickly coming to the realisation that he was meant to be following somewhat of a path, and that if he tried to veer off it in some way or change course he was being guided back on course. Almost like he was being pulled along on strings. A puppet.

Connor hated that thought as soon as it popped into his head. It was better to think that he was meant to be following a set route, almost like an invisible guide. Maybe it would give him some answers. He hoped, anyway.

_Markus, is this an inconvenient time?_

It didn’t take Connor long to get an answer.

**_You have impeccable timing, Connor, I was just about to get in touch with you._ **

_Am I correct in assuming that you have found something of interest?_

**_More than one thing. Would it be possible for you and the Lieutenant to join us at the manor?_ **

_Of course, we will be with you soon._

The conversation ended there, to which Connor turned his attention back to Hank. “Markus wishes for us to join him at Manfred Manor, he says he has more than one item of interest to discuss with us.”

Hank swore lowly. “Fuck, I don’t like the sound of that. This mess is just getting fucking bigger by the day. Did he say anything about what he might have?”

“No, but the conversation never really went in that direction. All he said is that he was about to contact me, and that he wished for us to meet him.”

“Short and to the point. I get the feeling that Markus has something big. I’ll let Fowler know where we’re headed, you get the car set, all right?”

“Of course.” Connor watched as Hank turned around and unlocked the door, to which he decided to test the limits of his actions. “Hank?”

The older man turned at the calling of his name, and Connor could see the mild surprise at hearing that rather than his title. “Yeah?”

“I-” His intended statement was cut off immediately, so Connor decided to try for something else. “What do _you_ think is happening?”

Hank crossed his arms in the doorway and heaved a long sigh. “Someone’s trying to destroy the mayor’s credibility and wreck the android rights bill which is up for debate, that much is obvious. Whether this is just that, or a larger scheme to get rid of and replace him with someone less sympathetic to androids is another thing entirely.”

“Not like you to dodge,” Connor pointed out.

With a resigned smile, Hank went back into the room and locked the door again. “You want to know what I honestly think?” Connor nodded. “I think this group are dangerous and don’t give a damn about who they hurt to get what they want. They’ve bombed a fucking apartment block, and I’m pretty sure they’re the bastards that tried to turn us into Swiss cheese last month. Fuck’s sake, you’ve still got those bloody scars on your chassis from those bullets since they were armour-piercing rounds! I know Simon managed to fix you up, but I hate to think what’ll happen when we come across them again.”

Hank looked at Connor softly and placed his hand on the android’s shoulder. “I know you make a point of jumping in to protect me, Con, but you’ve got to be careful with these shitheads. I don’t want you getting hurt shielding me.”

Connor gave him a gentle smile in return. “I can’t promise I won’t protect you, Hank, but I will be more aware. Despite what you say, I can still be repaired. _You_ are irreplaceable.”

The human’s eyes narrowed. “So are you, Connor. You can be repaired, yes, but not replaced.” He chuckled briefly. “I happen to like you being my resident pain-in-the-ass.” That earned a small laugh from the android, and the two stared at each other for a second before Hank pulled back again. “Come on, let’s get moving. We’d better not keep Markus waiting.” Connor nodded in agreement and the two left the room, but Connor had gained a lot of unexpected answers from that little conversation.

He now had a rough timeframe of how long had passed, and it was obvious that Hank was more protective of him after his last memory of this timeline. Things had clearly developed a lot in that time, and he needed to learn as much as he could before meeting with Markus.

_I have to go through these flashes of memory; but why is it not all perfect? I can store millions of hours of footage in perfect clarity, and yet this is corrupted? Then again, I couldn’t access anything at all before…_

His focus drifted to the message at the bottom right of his vision – a permanent reminder of his situation. That no matter how real all every reality felt, there was no guarantee that what he was experiencing was hisown _._

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

_That woman in the Zen Garden said the important question was ‘who am **I**?’ Does that mean I have to figure out which of these realities is truly my own? Is this some sort of twisted test of my character where she has inhibited my memories? Or has she just hijacked my mind and is placing me in different simulations? _

_Would that mean that **none** of this is real?_

_What is **happening** to me?_

* * *

Connor and Hank made it to Manfred Manor without hassle. As much as his memory was in pieces, Connor did remember _this_ : that Carl Manfred’s final act before his passing only a month after the revolution had been to leave his home, belongings and all his paintings to Markus. While most of his fortune had gone to his son, Leo, Markus was given all that which meant the most to the man who loved the android like his own flesh and blood. Markus had set it up as a home base for himself, Simon, Josh and North to run their newly declared Jericho network of androids, using it an official residence for their movement.

The androids had managed to locate places to find shelter in abandoned complexes and buildings, converting them to home spaces that fitted their needs until more rights were signed through. It was slow going. Markus was pushing it hard, but humans were proving stubborn.

Or at least, that was what Connor could recollect of his memories before all… _this_. He actually had no idea if any of that had bearing in this reality; for all he knew, the revolution went completely differently here. Thus far, however, this place was very similar to all he remembered – all the more reason he thought that this reality was his own, despite the lack of control.

They parked in front of the manor and approached it warily, surprised by the lack of greeting. Connor could remember from the small flashes in his mind that one of the Jericho androids always made a point of meeting them when they arrived, but that wasn’t the case this time apparently. Much to Connor’s surprise, when they came to the front door it opened willingly, with a small message welcoming Connor in.

Hank gave Connor a sly smirk and nudged him. “Well, if that ain’t an endorsement of Markus’ trust in you, I don’t know what the fuck is,” he pointed out, to which Connor just smiled at him disbelievingly. They wandered in, and Connor called out for Markus as the front door shut behind them.

“ _Upstairs, Connor,_ ” came the shout in reply.

Connor led the way up the grand staircase, Hank taking some time to admire the paintings on the way up. That had been a surprise his first time in bringing Hank over to introduce him to the Jericho androids: that his partner had an appreciation of Carl Manfred’s work. He had later wished that he had known that earlier, he would have happily seen to it that Hank met Carl before the older man died.

The pair entered a study on the far end of the floor, to which they found the Jericho quartet all at work. North was studying some documents on a touchpad, and she just about managed to muster a wave in greeting from where she was lounged on a sofa, while Josh was mid-call with someone, pacing in front of a desk. Simon and Markus were both watching some footage on a large monitor at the side of the room, their hands white and clasped together.

From how tight he could see Simon was holding on, Connor knew instantly that the blonde android was deeply worried about something. “Markus?” Connor said softly, knowing that the two androids would be aware of him.

Markus and Simon turned in unison, to which they separated and each gave a smile to the pair of detectives. “Connor, Lieutenant,” the android leader greeted with a handshake to each of them. “Thank you both for coming so swiftly, I know you must have a great deal of work right now.”

“Ah, it ain’t that bad,” Hank replied sarcastically. “The mayor’s lover is murdered while he’s being blackmailed for supporting androids? Everyday occurrence, really.”

That earned a laugh from Markus. “Well, I’m glad you are finding some humour in the situation, Lieutenant,” he answered with a smile. “I wish we could approach all of this in the same way.”

Connor nudged Hank good naturedly. “Rest assured, Markus, that doesn’t mean that we aren’t treating this case with the utmost importance and care,” Connor assured the other android. “This has ramifications for all of us.”

Markus gave Connor a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry, Connor, I am well aware. I am simply appreciating the black humour, it makes the whole scenario a little more bearable.” Simon came up to place a hand on Markus’ shoulder, and the RK200’s countenance became more severe in response. “I wish we had called you in with better news, but this is something that has incredible implications. Right now, you two are the only ones we can trust with this information.”

Hank and Connor shared a long look before turning back. “Something’s got you folks real concerned,” Hank said knowingly.

Simon interfaced with the monitor and rewound the footage which he and Markus had been watching, only for Hank and Connor to realise it was of the apartment which had been rigged to explode. “We’ve been going over the CCTV recordings, looking for any clues which the DPD may have been unaware of. Our people have been making our own record of those who have actively targeted androids, and we were hoping this database would help us in identifying anyone involved.”

“Hang on,” Hank interrupted. “You’ve got your own log of humans who are known to have assaulted androids, but haven’t notified the DPD about it?” Silence greeted his initial question, so Hank continued. “How come you’ve kept this to yourselves?” His question was without any heat, which is probably the only reason he didn’t get a snappier reply from the female android who decided at that moment to enter the conversation.

“Because most androids don’t trust humans due to their prior mistreatment of us.” Both detectives turned to watch as she leapt up from the sofa and approached them with a stern expression.

“That’s a pretty fair reason,” Hank stated. “Still, that sort of thing could really help Connor and I out with anything reported to us. If you aren’t willing to trust all humans with that, will you at the very least give _us_ access to it?”

The other trio shared a look. “We would have to ask all those who have volunteered information to the server if they are happy with such an arrangement,” Simon said, “but I cannot see many having great issue if you two are the recipients. Some are still wary of Connor due to his programming prior to his deviancy, and of course there is the fact that you are human, Lieutenant. However, word has spread pretty quickly of your tireless efforts to champion android justice. I think they would be amenable to the idea.”

“In saying that…” Markus interrupted. “Two of our strongest fears seem to have been realised recently.”

“How so?” Connor asked, coming to take a closer look at the footage.

“We have all come to the conclusion that Michelle was an unfortunate victim of a much broader plot to discredit the mayor’s plans for android rights. Thus far, we’ve managed to secure a court order which conceals the true nature of her relationship with him, as well as the fact that he protected her during the revolution,” Markus told them while passing over a touchpad detailing their legal battle. “It will not hold permanently, however. We need you to find the culprits before the vote on android rights in two months, to prove this scheme.”

“If we fail to prove that this was a targeted assault, trust in the mayor’s intentions will be broken, and many will no doubt vote against the bill when their relationship comes to light,” Connor concluded.

“Surely to god we’d find the group responsible by then,” Hank grumbled, but from the looks the other androids shared, there was clearly more to come.

“Well, we would have thought so too…if we hadn’t found this.” Simon switched to a view from with the apartment block, showing the reception area. It was from four days before the explosion. Both Hank and Connor were stunned to see two DPD officers appear in the frame and speak with the receptionist. “We spoke to Denise, the receptionist for the building, and she confirmed that both the officers who spoke with her that day gave the correct safe word when asking to interview Michelle. No-one thought anything of their presence since security had been alerted that Michelle was under the DPD’s protection.”

“Except only ourselves and Captain Fowler were made actively aware of her location. There was a report logged in the DPD systems, but it was password locked. No-one else should have been able to access it without authorisation from any of the three of us.”

Following that line of thinking, Connor looked around for a free touchpad that he could use. North held out her own for him to use, at which Connor accessed the DPD network remotely. His already serious look darkened at the results of his scan. “Connor?” Hank asked in concern at seeing his partner’s expression change.

“The report was last accessed just over a week ago, the time frame fits – and not from the DPD premises,” Connor relayed bitterly. “The IP address has been masked and rerouted through several VPN servers, it would be highly difficult to trace. All the indicators point to it being hacked.”

“God fucking dammit,” Hank growled. “So someone stole the report and used it to kill Michelle? How the hell would they even know it existed in the first place?”

“Only someone within the DPD would,” Connor told him. “And only someone in the DPD would have been able to know that we visited the mayor that day we were shot.”

Hank paled as the realisation sank. “Holy shit, you’re right. Are you saying that someone at the DPD is in league with this anti-android group? We’ve got fucking _traitors_ in our own department?”

North raised an eyebrow at him. “A lot of humans would not call them traitors for their actions.”

“I don’t give a damn about what ‘humans’ think,” he spat. “Bottom line is, androids are people, and the police are meant to uphold the fucking law. These bastards’ actions have resulted in the murder of an innocent woman, that makes them traitors to their own jobs and supposed beliefs beyond anything else.”

She gave him a vaguely impressed smirk. “You know, I’m beginning to see why Connor said you were such a driving force in him deviating. At this rate I might grow to like you, old geezer.”

Hank rolled his eyes at her. “Sappy shit doesn’t suit you, North. I happen your like your bitch persona, no bullshit, so stick with that.” She chuckled and gave him a mild punch in the shoulder, but the pair continued smirking at each other.

Their banter broke the dark mood slightly, but Connor was still staring at the report hard. Markus noticed this and came to stand right beside him. “Can you discern anything, Connor?” he wondered.

Connor sighed in aggravation and passed the report back which a shake of his head. “No, nothing as yet. I will need more time. Did the receptionist pass on her visual records of the two officers who went to visit Michelle?”

“This is where things get extra concerning…her audio and visual records were both distorted. She knows they were there, but they must have had some sort of scrambler or jammer which has blocked recording. As it is, all we have as proof of their attendance at the location was her word, and this CCTV footage of the reception.”

“Shit, that all but confirms it. Those two must have planted the bomb which killed Michelle,” Hank said grimly.

Markus nodded severely. “Connor, Lieutenant, this plot seems to run to much greater depths than we first suspected, and this is why we asked to meet you both here. As of now, we fear we cannot trust anyone in the DPD outside of yourselves. I will share all our knowledge of those who have targeted androids in the past, and hopefully you can find those responsible. I do however urge you to do so with great caution. Clearly, this group has connections within the DPD and may do something more dramatic if they feel threatened.”

Hank and Connor turned to give each other a long look, knowing Markus was right. The stakes on this case suddenly got a lot higher. “You got it, we’ll keep this on the down low as much as we can,” Hank assured him. “We’ll keep you updated with any progress we make. In the meantime, do you think you can try to drum up all the support possible for the android bill? Get the word out that it’s in danger of failing, pull every string you’ve got. That could either make or break android freedom, and we can’t afford for it to be the latter.”

“Rest assured, Lieutenant, we are doing that already,” Simon smiled. “If you help hunt down these killers, we will make sure of our future.”

Connor gave Markus a hard look. “Markus, do you need me here? I know we spoke long ago about my duty being to bringing justice to androids through the DPD, but I-”

“Connor.” Markus placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, reminiscent of their discussion in the church during the revolution. “You are in the best place for you, and for our people. Find who it is that is endangering our future, and we will deliver the freedom we have all been struggling for. Do what you do best, and bring down these criminals: if nothing else, for Michelle’s memory. She was an innocent victim and I would hate for her loss to be forgotten amongst all this other turmoil.”

That settled the disquiet in Connor’s heart, and he nodded in acceptance. Markus pulled away again, and gave the pair a final nod. “Good luck to the both of you. This will not be easy, but I have faith in both of you.”

Hank gave him an appreciative smile and shook Markus’ hand. “We’ll do you proud, Markus.”

It was only a few minutes later that the two detectives left the manor, but the revelation was hanging heavy between them. Hank sighed long as they got back in the car and slumped his arms over the steering wheel. “So we’ve got someone in the DPD who planted a bomb that resulted in an android’s death, who is also involved in an anti-android group who are organised enough to threaten and blackmail the mayor. And now we’ve got to flush them out with one hand tied behind our backs and us trying to not make a noise larger than a whisper, in case we tip them off.” He growled as he sat back. “Fan. Fucking. Tastic.”

Connor flashed him a resigned smile. “Well, we did say this case was going to be shit from the very start. It’s simply proving to be accurate as yet.”

Hank laughed at that. “You ain’t wrong there, Con, you ain’t wrong there. You called it straight away, you knew that things didn’t add up. I just can’t believe it was one of our own that did this…” He pulled out his phone and clicked through his contacts. “We’re gonna have to tell Fowler about this. I’d stake my life he’s clean, I trust Jeffrey through and through, and we’re going to need his help if we’re somehow trying to keep this investigation quiet. You got any thoughts on suspects?”

“I would hate to presume,” Connor told him. “Until I see proof either way, everyone in the precinct is a suspect.”

“Shit, this is going to be hard. I mean, we trust these people to watch our backs in the line of duty. Suddenly wondering where their allegiance lies is a fucking kick in the balls.” Hank clicked on his phone and brought it up, waiting for the call to connect. When it did, Hank sighed long. “Jeffrey, we’re finished with Markus. He gave us some pretty shitty news…”

Connor was ready to listen it to the conversation, but then his head began to swim. Searing and familiar pain started to invade, and despite his efforts to stay conscious, he felt himself slipping away.

_Where will I wake up next…?_

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGED  
CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*4I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X3I*1X1I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 17% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 65%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anything in there stand out to all of you? I'm eager to see what details you guys are picking up on!


	5. Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys still with me on all the jumping around? We're basically going in a loop between the three realities here:
> 
> \- DPD detectives  
> \- Married private detectives  
> \- War
> 
> There are clues scattered throughout the fic to try and help you figure out what is going on, I'm not leaving you all totally in the dark. Just...80%? Ish?
> 
> All right, enjoy this next entry! Time to see a little more of our favourite married duo's life.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
 **//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
 **//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
 **//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGED**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 17% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 65%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

Thus far, every time Connor had awoken to that message, he had been in some sort of restful situation, or at the very least, he had been stationary. It wasn’t the case this time, and he was surprised at the small smile he could feel on his face. Opening his eyes, he realised he was walking down the street with five cups in a carrier: three coffees, one of which he recognised as Hank’s signature black with two sugars (curious, at the DPD Hank always took four. Even smaller things were evidently different between the realities), along with two strange thirium concoctions which Connor had never seen before.

Looking down at himself, he recognised the attire as that of the reality where he was a private detective – where he was married to Hank. The smile on his face grew at the thought. He was finally going to get to see more of that life.

What had him truly curious was…why only five cups? There were seven of them in their office, so who was absent?

Wandering in the front door, Connor found himself at the receiving end of a broad smile from Lucille. As he handed over a cup of thirium, Connor was mildly surprised that he hadn’t twigged she was an android the first time. Then again, with his scanners glitching out and causing him pain, it was maybe little wonder that he hadn’t thought to do that before. The last time he was here, Connor was still immensely confused as to what had been happening to him. Now, he was absorbing a lot more of the details. Although, seeing an android with two piercings on her eyebrow and lip along with a rose tattoo on her neck were a noticeable difference from anything he’d experienced before.

_Evidently android customisation is a feature of this world._

“Thanks, Connor!” she greeted while taking a long smell of the drink. “What crazy new combo have they got this week?”

‘Auto-pilot’ was a helpful thing in these circumstances. “Electrolysed thirium with added zinc and cobalt, apparently,” he answered with a tiny smirk. “They said it will boost your processors by almost thirty percent.”

“Really?” Lucille took a long drink, at which Connor could see her eyes flash bright blue for a second before she shook her head, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Yep, that certainly does the job! Did you get one for yourself too, or is the anticipation keeping you buzzed enough?” she teased with a knowing smile.

_Anticipation?_

“I may be keeping an eye out for any news,” he clarified with a little smile, picking up the carrier with the remaining four drinks. “But no, I did not. I’ve already been using thirium cocktails to keep myself well maintained, I wondered if this would be too much for my systems.”

“You know what they say, there’s never too much of a bad thing. I figured you and Hank would be well aware of that as newlyweds,” she told him deviously, and Connor was astounded to feel himself blushing. There was no missing what she was hinting at there. Connor spluttered awkwardly, which had Lucille laughing warmly. “Sorry, Connor, couldn’t resist. You’d best take them through before the others start bitching about their drinks getting cold.”

“Well, that would be their fault for being lazy, wouldn’t it?” he told her jokingly, which had Lucille giggling. Connor left her with a smile, and continued on to the main body of their office. As he suspected from the drinks remaining, they were down two members of their group. There was no sign of Gavin or Richard.

Chris and Ben were busy talking over the details of an assault case which they were looking into, and gave Connor a quiet thank you as he dropped their drinks off, before the android turned to stare at Hank. His thirium pump stuttered as he saw Hank staring intently at some paperwork, tapping his pen off the side of his head lightly with his reading glasses perched on his nose. Connor hadn’t been hit by this level of attraction to the older man since the last time he was here, when he’d seen Hank coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel. That had been mouth-watering, seeing so much of Hank on display, but this…

It was simple, an everyday sight. And yet it had Connor weak at the knees, struck by sudden _want_.

He was suddenly _very_ aware of just how deep his feelings for Hank went here. Sure, he was drawn to Hank in the reality where they were partners at the DPD, but this was just… _more_. Connor had heard others speaking about love: about how it made them feel like they were burning up just looking at the other person, driven mad by the urge to be near them, be around them. How they wanted to hold them, kiss them, spend every moment with the person that they’d fallen for…

Love wasn’t something an android was meant to feel, and yet Connor couldn’t get enough of it. His sensors pointedly reminded him about the gold band sitting on his finger, and it made him a little giddy. A soft and heartfelt smile wove its way on the his face, and he didn’t care who saw it.

The ringing of a phone broke through the moment and Connor watched as Hank pulled up the device from his desk. When the older man groaned loudly at the name, Connor’s interest was piqued. “Yeah, Anderson,” he answered completely blasé, to which Connor raised an eyebrow at Hank’s blatant attempt at disinterest. Pulling Hank’s coffee from the carrier, Connor left his own drink on the edge of Chris’ desk while going over with the final beverage.

Hank looked up when he heard Connor approaching, the warm smile that Connor got in reply to the handing over of the coffee made his wires heat up. “Thanks, baby,” Hank whispered while winking at Connor, before his attention snapped back to the phone call. “Yeah, I heard you the first fucking time, Grace! Christ almighty.”

Ah-hah, now Connor knew who Hank was talking to. Chris and Ben both chuckled from behind him, and Connor wandered over to speak with them while Hank continued to have his argument down the phone. “Grace still hasn’t forgiven Hank for you two not going over to visit her after the wedding?” Ben asked amusedly.

Connor chuckled and tried to say something random so that his ‘auto-pilot’ kicked in. He really wasn’t sure whether he should be grateful that he was getting used to it. “No, but we did only have two days after our return from Australia where we possibly could have visited, and when Hank tried to call her she didn’t pick up. I’m guessing her project took a strange turn.”

Chris nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, top secret government work tends to do that.”

“Still, Grace has never been shy about throwing hissy fits at Hank when she’s pissed. _So_ glad that I don’t have a sister who is that much younger than me, an older one is hard enough!” Ben cackled.

Ben’s statement made Connor mull over what he knew of Hank’s younger sister, Grace. It wasn’t a huge amount, Hank had only mentioned her briefly after she’d called to enquire about him after the revolution, that Connor could remember. Fortunately, this time when Connor tried to recall any previous memories of this timeline, he wasn’t assaulted in quite the same violent fashion. The jumble of images and feelings was still painful, but he managed to hide it this time with nothing more than a slightly pained wince and the tightening of his body.

What it did do, however, was help him piece together what had happened in the time between his last visit here, and now.

**_Their group setting up a proxy connection to the anti-human group which were calling themselves ‘Blue Tide’, and attempting to infiltrate their servers._ **

**_Working on several cases brought to them by members of the public, turned away by the DPD - both android and human._ **

**_Nights spent out using their connections and contacts to learn more about a new anti-android group which were launching more violent assaults against androids. As yet, they couldn’t be officially connected to anything, but the signs were all there._ **

In between all of that, however, there were so many heart-warming moments spent with his family and friends.

**_A celebration party thrown by Markus not long after he and Hank returned from their honeymoon, with almost everyone they were close to in attendance._ **

**_Frequent date nights with Hank, enjoying their newlywed status. Sometimes doubled up with Gavin and Richard depending on their activity._ **

One memory really stood out to Connor, and suddenly his comment to Lucille at the front made a lot more sense.

**_Accompanying Richard as he set about finding a ring, teasing the younger android on how he’d sworn he would never get married after seeing the tribulations involved in Hank and Connor’s own wedding._ **

Connor’s eyes snapped open in shock, honing in on the empty desks. Gavin and Richard were away on holiday – and Richard planned to propose while they were gone.

That…wasn’t something he expected. Going through his memory of the day out with Richard when he helped the other android pick out a ring for Gavin, Connor realised that it wasn’t any more than a few days ago: and Richard had said that a lot can change someone’s thinking in three months.

Given he and Hank were away for a month, that put Connor at almost two months forward in the timeline. He really wished his chronometer wasn’t still acting up, that would make life a _lot_ easier. Then again, if he really was jumping between realities and time, it was little wonder that it was a lost cause. His systems were probably in such a mess because of all this shifting.

“ _Grace!_ Look, for fuck’s sake, Connor and I will come over and see you in the summer, all right!” Hank bellowed down the phone, earning a few snickers from his colleagues. “You’re the one who keeps complaining about having no goddamn time because of your job, but the minute I say that we’re too busy because of _our_ work, you throw a strop! If you’d been even remotely organised and actually _booked_ your fucking holidays properly, you’d have been at our _wedding!_ Don’t think I’ve forgotten that little fact!”

Connor’s amusement swiftly evaporated at hearing that. _Hank’s sister didn’t come to our wedding? Are they estranged? Did she disagree with him marrying an android?_ Sadness crashed over him at the thought.

The trio were shamelessly listening in, but Hank didn’t give a fuck. In fact, he dramatically rolled his eyes when he met Connor’s own concerned ones, while flashing Connor a reassuring smile. His gloom must have been showing enough for Hank to notice. “No, I can’t fucking tell you, you know how investigative shit is!” he snapped down the phone at her. His anger spiked at whatever she said next, and Hank’s face became tight with rage. “You self-absorbed bitch, don’t you fucking dare tell me that my work is less important than yours! Tell you what, you get back in touch when you’ve dragged your head out of your ass, and then maybe I’ll contemplate whether to introduce my new husband to you!”

With that, Hank hung up, still snarling. Connor watched him for a few seconds, his own more muted anger simmering under the surface at Hank’s pain when Chris spoke up. “You okay, Hank?”

“Fucking pissed, but I’ll be fine,” Hank growled back, to which Connor approached him slowly. Connor didn’t break his stare from Hank’s while he offered the slightly colder coffee to his husband, hoping the normality would break the unmistakable hurt masked behind the pain. The human looked between Connor and the coffee for a few moments before standing from his desk and bringing Connor into a tight hug.

Connor could feel Hank trembling slightly, and the emotional vulnerability really caught Connor off-guard. Hank was known for keeping any form of ‘softer’ emotion out of public view, he did have a reputation for being snarly and grumpy after all. Then again, that was Hank Anderson, police lieutenant; not Hank Anderson, private detective - and more importantly, Connor’s husband. He simply held Hank for a second, giving him a moment to collect himself before the human whispered hoarsely into his ear. “Thanks, sweetheart, I fuckin’ needed that. How do you always know?”

For that, Connor didn’t even need to try and find an answer. The ‘auto-pilot’ one and his own were the same. “That’s because I know _you,_ Hank. And sometimes, just a simple reminder that you aren’t alone helps to bring you back,” he answered plainly.

He chuckled sadly, before pulling away some to look at Connor intently. The loving smile he flashed made the android melt for a second before Connor found himself on the end of a slow, chaste kiss. Hank pulled away after a few seconds and pressed his forehead to Connor’s. “Thanks, Con. I love you.”

Connor exhaled happily and smiled softly at Hank in return. “I love you too.”

Remembering their audience, Hank stepped back and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, but Connor was unapologetic and kept an arm around Hank’s waist. “Shit, sorry,” Hank grumbled shyly, “I know we normally try and make a point of keeping the PDA out of the office-”

“Don’t worry about it, Hank,” Ben chuckled warmly. “ _That_ was sweet and well intentioned, and I’ll take it any day over Gavin and Richard’s charged snarking. The atmosphere got so thick in here while you two were gone that we more often than not ended up telling those two to go and find a closet to fuck in!”

Chris nodded in confirmation as Hank doubled over in laughter. Connor wrinkled his face in distaste, but was also quietly chuckling. “Speaking of which, has Richard told you if he’s done it yet, Connor?” Chris piped up, a sudden excitement in his tone.

Connor shook his head with a smile. “Nothing yet.”

“Damn, he didn’t give you any clues on how he intended to do it?” the youngest human wondered aloud.

“Knowing Richard, he’ll fluster Gavin for the laughs before he goes for it. Catch him really off-guard,” Ben joked, but all of them knew it to be true. Richard did have a habit of riling Gavin up for fun.

“You lot are still assuming that Richard’s going to be the one doing it,” Hank told them pointedly.

“Nah, you’re bullshitting us on that one, Hank,” Chris chuckled. “One, I don’t think Gavin’s going to be caught dead in a jewellery shop looking for a ring, and two, I don’t think he’d go through with it. He’s a total wuss when it comes to romance and all that – I’ve had him moaning at me via text often enough when he chickens out of attempting that sort of thing.”

“You’re not the only one,” Connor muttered quietly, which caught him by surprise. He knew that he and Gavin were on closer terms here from everything he’d seen and been a part of, but from that statement, it sounded like they had been for a while. _That_ was a surprise. Connor couldn’t help but wonder how they had all ended up here, in this agency. From what he’d seen and learned so far, it seemed that something around the aftermath of the revolution (or maybe even a change of events in the revolution itself) had caused this reality to spiral off in a completely different direction.

“Well, there’s $300 riding on the result of this,” Hank smirked. “Hope you’ve all got your $100 ready to pay up at the end of it!”

“And you’d better be ready to fork over a ton to each of us,” Ben quipped. “Though I guess it hardly counts between husbands, since you two probably share the same damn account.”

“Getting to lord it over the other would totally be worth it.” Hank winked at Connor, who simply smiled in return. The older man sighed and pulled away gently, giving Connor a quick squeeze before sitting back down. Looking at Hank in concern, Connor perched himself on the edge of the desk, to which Hank gave him a flirty look. “You know I can’t concentrate with you leaning there like that, Con.”

“Well, it’s not my fault you’ve got an overactive imagination,” Connor teased, to which Hank beckoned him in closer. The android leant down, shivering both at the husky whisper in his ear and at the words themselves.

“I didn’t hear you complaining at my ‘imagination’ last night,” Hank purred, looking smug at seeing Connor mildly flustered. Hank tutted and nudged Connor’s knee lightly. “Damn it, we’re meant to be working, not flirting.”

Connor sniggered, but took some sympathy on the other man. “Did you find anything?”

Hank sighed in aggravation while directing Connor to the page he’d been studying intently. “Not exactly, but something about everything we’ve dug up about Blue Tide has me concerned that they’re planning something bigger. From what we’ve learned on their network and from Thomas, so far they’ve only struck out a few times and it’s mostly been localised, terror inflicting attacks. Just enough to make sure their existence is kept under wraps. Why?”

Knowing what angle Hank was looking to follow, Connor looked over the photographs which Hank had spread over his desk. Images passed on by other members of Blue Tide’s symbol, excerpts of conversations between other members, along with two or three other attacks on humans which bore too close a resemblance to be random chance. Hank was right, something wasn’t adding up. Blue Tide’s only victims had thus far been those with close associations to androids, and some quiet investigative work had proven that they had either heard of, or were, members of the group who, like Thomas, wanted out after learning about their true nature.

Diving into his clustered and fragmented memories of the time between, Connor could recall images of himself and Richard both tapping into Blue Tide’s network, and they’d even managed to bring in help from the Jericho androids. North and, much to Connor’s shock, a deviated Chloe had also used the same channels as Richard had to infiltrate the group. Fortunately, the group seemed to have an aversion to meeting in person, using solely their network to plan and execute orders. That made infiltration much easier as they had to do nothing more than use false serial and model numbers online. As it was, almost every member did that anyway.

Sadly, that made tracking them nearly impossible. Evidently the group were incredibly wary of being destroyed from within and didn’t even trust their own.

“That could be the key to solving the mystery behind this group,” Connor deducted. “Have we made any progress in locating any potential targets for the group?”

“Well, Ben came up with a good suggestion while you were out grabbing our drinks, and I think it might be a viable angle. If it’s a possibility, we’re going to need to call in some extra help to bring this group down before things get catastrophic,” Hank sighed before bringing up a page on his terminal. Connor leant down to interface with it, downloading all of the relevant data.

After a second he’d analysed everything, but there was no stopping his face from crumpling into a frown. “’Crimson’, a known anti-android group have been granted permission to organise a march in downtown Detroit?”

“Yeah, and these bastards are affiliated with at least two other known groups, one of which is that violent lot that Chris and Ben are trying to clamp down on,” Hank said while gesturing over to their colleagues. “Between the three of them, they could get a _serious_ crowd.”

“And with it offer Blue Tide a perfect target if they are looking for a bloody confrontation,” Connor surmised.

Hank nodded seriously. “Don’t know why, but I’ve got a _really_ bad feeling about this lot, Con. I know they haven’t seriously hurt or killed anyone yet, but their mentality is far removed from Markus’ peaceful creed and I don’t get it. Things are on the up! I mean, fuck’s sake, you and I are a prime example of that!”

His head fell into his hands, and he suddenly looked exhausted to Connor. “I really was hoping that things had turned a corner with the latest round of android rights, especially now that you’re all allowed to adopt human children or build some of your own. You’re legally recognised citizens who are allowed to marry, have kids, vote and be elected, have full access to jobs which are paid equally to humans, can own property and travel all over the world now that you have passports!”

Connor’s pump stuttered at the frustration pouring off Hank, and he could empathise with it. It seemed that androids were mimicking some human behaviours far too well: the need for more or perhaps the desire to be the dominant species was threatening the balance of this world. Given what he’d seen in the realities of both the DPD and the war, Connor knew that this was perfection to him. He had all he’d ever want here. Well, save for a dog perhaps.

_Actually, where is Sumo here? Has he died of old age, and we never got another dog?_

That seemed unlikely in Connor’s mind, but maybe it wasn’t for them in this reality. If they were that busy running their own detective agency, then perhaps they just didn’t have the time for it. Or maybe Hank hadn’t felt up to owning another dog? It seemed that every time he felt like he was solving one mystery, another three questions appeared in its place. The whole situation was infuriating him.

Putting that aside for now, Connor placed a reassuring hand on the middle of Hank’s back and waited for the other man to look up before he spoke. “As you said, Hank, things have come a long way: and we _are_ proof of that. Do you know how much joy it brings me to see that we are legally married? To address you as my husband? Let alone introducing our agency and work to those who come here looking for help.” Hank still looked unconvinced so Connor knelt, allowing Hank to look straight into his eyes. Smiling softly, Connor took a hold of Hank’s left hand and rubbed the ring there, a perfect mate to Connor’s own.

“Don’t worry, my love,” Connor whispered to Hank with such feeling that he almost couldn’t believe it himself. “We’ll stop this group before they do anything which could threaten our future.” The next declaration caused Connor to reel internally, but it made him giddy at the same time. “Our promise at our wedding was to always stand by the other, no matter how hard things became, so that we could see out the end of our lives together. And I don’t intend to let that day come too early or allow anything to stand in the way of that.”

Hank just watched him for a moment before chuckling softly. Connor hummed happily when Hank caressed his cheek with a feather light touch, leaning into the brush with a smile of his own. “For someone who hasn’t had feelings anything like as long as I have, you sure can handle them a fuck ton better than I can, Con,” he said lovingly.

“I had a good teacher,” Connor whispered in return before twisting his head to press a gentle kiss to Hank’s wrist. The older man’s eyes sparkled as Connor pulled away again, and the two put more respectable distance between them. Based off what he had seen and been a part of today, Connor couldn’t help but wonder how he and Hank _ever_ got any work done together. It was all too tempting to just lose himself in his human’s eyes, his conversation…his _everything._

He’d only had a taster of this life, but Connor so badly wanted it now that it scared him – he had no idea how he’d react if he had to accept a reality where this easy and gentle love between them wasn’t real.

The chiming of several phones around the room had everyone’s attention, and Connor was bemused when he didn’t get a message himself. Hank was content to ignore the message for now and stay in the quiet moment with Connor, but when both Chris and Ben exclaimed out loud in shock, it got more of a reaction. Hank and Connor turned to look at their colleagues, who were staring at something in total disbelief. Chris’ mouth was hanging open and Ben just seemed frozen in shock. “I’m hoping you’re both impersonating goldfish for a good reason?” Hank asked slowly.

Ben stared up at him for a moment before his surprise morphed to sudden annoyance. “You knew something, you bastard!” he growled.

Bemused by the reaction, Hank and Connor both turned their attention to Hank’s phone, seeing that it was a picture message from Gavin. Upon opening it, Hank beamed and cawed in triumph. “ _Yes!_ Pay up, suckers!”

Chris grumbled while grabbing five $20 notes from his pocket. “How the hell did you call that one, Hank?”

Hank smirked over at the pair of them. “Because guess which poor bastard got roped into helping him hunt out a goddamn ring! Suppose it was only fair after I dragged him to help me pick out Connor’s.”

The other two groaned while forking over their cash, but Connor was busy staring at the photograph with a broad smile on his face. Gavin and Richard were both grinning, Gavin smugly while Richard was just happy, and showing off the two mismatched rings now on each other’s left hands. As per, however, Gavin was flipping off the camera from where they seemed to be sat on a beach. The message at the bottom made Connor chuckle. _Classic Gavin._

**_Beat the bastard to it! Never gonna let Rich live this down!_ **

Another message came in under the original on Hank’s phone, just as Connor was notified of his own incoming message. He saw Richard’s serial number flash up on his HUD and accepted, despite all the glitching which happened along with it. It took a concentrated effort, but Connor finally managed to ascertain the contents.

_Well, it seems that Gavin and I had the same idea on this holiday. As much as I wish I had managed to ask him first, it did make it infinitely easier knowing the answer before I asked Gavin in return. Thank you for all your help, Connor, and pass on my gratitude to Hank as well: the ring Gavin chose is beautiful._

_In saying that, I have a question for you. Would you be willing to do me the honour of being my best man? Now you can experience all the pain **I** had to endure in playing yours._

Connor laughed out loud, which caught Hank’s attention from where he’d been collecting his winnings. Raising an eyebrow at the reaction, Hank gave Connor a look as the android peered over to see the second message from Gavin, having an inkling as to what it might be. Sure enough, his suspicion was soon confirmed.

**_Could use some advice, Hank, and I’m sure you’re looking for some revenge for my speech at your wedding. You up for the job?_ **

With a satisfied smile, Connor tossed the phone over to Hank. He read it once, then again with wide eyes. “Holy shit!” Hank exclaimed, mildly stunned. “Fuck, I didn’t expect _that_ …” His eyes raised to meet Connor’s sparkling ones. “Did Richard ask you?” Connor nodded enthusiastically, so happy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. From the memories he’d now unlocked, he could tell that the quartet of himself, Hank, Gavin and Richard were very close friends, so to know that the pair were now engaged was elating.

“Shit, looks like we’re about to play a little role reversal,” Hank chuckled, and then groaned as he remembered one of Gavin’s gripes about playing his best man. “Aw, fuck, Gavin better not be a whiny little bitch about everything and be phoning me at shitty times of the day!”

“He’s not going to be doing it for the reasons you did, Hank,” Ben laughed. “Gavin’ll be phoning you at 2 am because he wants to get his own back, no other reason.”

“Was I really _that_ bad?” Hank asked the room openly.

“We may have heard a few stories,” Chris teased.

“You were a _hell_ of a lot worse this time than your first wedding!” Ben whooped. “Can only guess it’s cause you wanted everything perfect for Connor,” he finished with a shrug.

At that Hank, smiled guiltily. “Okay, maybe I was bad then,” he admitted while rubbing the back of his neck. The other two laughed as Hank flushed in slight embarrassment, but when his eyes met Connor’s the android was blushing in return at the implication.

Connor so badly wished he could remember it. From how warmly they spoke about it, their wedding would have been _perfect._

He turned to prepare a response for Richard, but just as he did, his HUD appeared to crack right in front of his eyes, causing Connor to scream. Hundreds of flashes appeared before his eyes, echoes of gunfire, yelling, arguments and howling rang through his ears, but everything was so heavily layered and moving far too fast for his mind to process.

The sensation was chilling and Connor fought the feeling with every fibre of his being. He knew what it was a precursor to, he knew where he was destined for next.

No, he wasn’t going to go without a fight. _This_ is who he wanted to be, not that murderer he was about to assimilate the life of once again.

His HUD cracked further as his whole body seemed to crumple under the strain, dozens of errors streaming down his fractured display.

_“C-or!”_

“ _Co-r, r-nd! -me on_! _D-t gi- -p!”_

A voice, but it was so garbled that Connor that he couldn’t make heads or tails of it, nor could he understand anything more that broken syllables.

_Who-_

As he suddenly blacked out all he could see was a sea of red, with the agonising sounds following him into the void.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**CENTRAL PROCESSOR STABILITY CRITICAL**

**SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES INITIATED**

_Override Shutdown Sequence  
_Reboot CPU

**WARNING!**   
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 38%**   
**CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE**

“You aren’t quitting out on me, Connor, not after all this.”

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate Sequence *2M4X3I*1X1I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X1V2I*1X*

“Come on…”

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 27% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 60%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...If only the next chapter was this happy. 
> 
> Hope you're all still enjoying this adventure! Next update is on Wednesday!


	6. Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know I said that I would be posting this chapter on Wednesday, but I'm not going to have the chance. So you're all getting this chapter a day early! 
> 
> *inhales* Time for more of War Connor. Yet again, this chapter may shock you...but not for the reasons you might expect.
> 
>  **Triggers warnings for this chapter:** Buried alive, war-typical violence, mentions of chemical warfare, detailed descriptions of wounds, android gore, executions.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 38%**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 27% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 60%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

He wasn’t going to open his eyes, no. He wasn’t playing this game, not again.

Connor refused to play the part of a murdering monster.

Unfortunately it wasn’t really much of choice from the rapid assault on the rest of his senses, he didn’t need his sight to realise what was transpiring around him. Residual heat from fire and acrid smoke which would choke a human, but only inconvenienced an android. A symphony of bullets and explosions, the sounds of crumbling all around him.

This was another battle – and Connor wanted no part of it.

“ _Connor_!”

Hearing the distinctive shout, Connor’s eyes snapped open and he was shocked to see he was partially buried under the collapse of a ruined building. His entire upper half was smothered beneath debris, but none of it beyond his capabilities to move. The bigger issue was that he didn’t have any connectivity with his lower right leg components, and with his HUD still glitching madly Connor had no idea whether it was due to damage or his systems being out of whack.

Scraping of the rubble above caught Connor’s attention, but when he tried to shift in effort to break free his whole body jolted in pain. He could see a message trying to form in his display, but whatever was affecting his systems was making it impossible for him to understand it. In the end, it was the voice which was screaming through the makeshift tomb that snapped Connor away from his internal plight.

“ _Connor! Answer me!”_

Recognising the voice Connor shouted back, though it was heavily layered with static. “Nines!”

The other android was making short work of the destruction above, and Connor soon saw Nines appear in view through a small gap. Considering Connor hadn’t seen anything much beyond hatred and indifference on Nines’ face, the sheer _panic_ which he could see now was a rather large shock. It was unbridled fear, and in that moment Connor realised so much more about his relationship with Nines here than he’d thought about before – and really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. In a war, you were bound to end up fiercely close to those you trusted the most.

Thoughts of Hank invaded at that moment and the sheer _pain_ which wracked Connor’s circuits had him physically flinching. It was beyond anything he could even comprehend, but the sense of betrayal was unmistakable.

What could possibly have happened here to make _that_ such a feature? Why…betrayal? Had something transpired between them?

Connor prayed that wasn’t true, not after having felt such love for the man only what seemed like minutes before. It _couldn’t_ be that, surely?

As Nines reached down, Connor stretched up to interface with him. The concern layered with terror was much more potent now and Connor could barely stand it. It felt wrong considering what they both were – ruthless killing machines. A moment like this made it feel so much more complicated.

**_What is your damage?_ **

_My systems are in a state of flux, I can’t be sure. What do your scanners say?_

**_Several damaged biocomponents, none critical. Lower right leg component is compromised but can be repaired. Thirium loss is notable but shutdown is not impending._ **

The RK900 jumped down in the recess he had created and helped to dig Connor out from the rubble, the two android working together to uncover Connor’s upper half before Nines lifted away the large piece while had crushed Connor’s right shin. It was currently unusable, but as Nines said could be fixed. Now freed, Nines swiftly took a hold of Connor’s arm and hauled the other android up to his still functioning leg. Connor swung his arms around Nines’ shoulders while bracing himself on the RK900’s back, holding on tightly as the larger android clawed his way out of the hole.

Being free of the dusty and cramped space left Connor feeling no better, as he could now see the carnage raging on the surface.

A swarm of androids was protecting their position and Connor could see others emerging from similar pits, broken and damaged androids on their backs and in their arms. It caused rage to sift through Connor’s circuits, but he soon realised that it wasn’t merely his own feelings that were echoing through. Nines’ synthskin had been completely retracted, allowing the two of them to stay permanently connected via Connor’s own currently glitching version.

Fury, fear, lust and desire for revenge…Connor couldn’t tell where his own emotions ended and Nines’ began – and that terrified him. The only explanation was that the two of them felt exactly the same way and were simply amplifying each other.

_How can I have become like this, with such a thirst for taking lives? Is this what war has done to me, or is it simply allowing freedom for this version of me to indulge?_

Connor was frightened to dig deeper and find out the answer to that last question.

An explosion detonated not far from them and Nines threw Connor to the ground, shielding him with his own body while the other androids took cover. It did little more than add to the scattering of fires which were spaced across the landscape once the initial force passed, but the threat more explosions posed was not something to be ignored. Connor knew if he was to survive this attack then he’d have to fixate on the changes later: right now he had to fight.

Nines pulled Connor back upright and was ready to usher him further back, but the RK800 wasn’t so willing to be yanked out of the battle. Not with so many other androids still on the front lines. Connor pushed himself away from Nines and collapsed on some of the debris, grabbing a nearby gun. “Get our people out from the remains!” Connor ordered him. Nines stared at him in shock, but Connor snapped at the pause. “We don’t have time for this Nines! Get everyone who can be saved free!”

He could see that Nines wanted to fight the command, but the other android simply nodded before rushing to where a group was desperately digging into the debris of the destroyed building. Connor winced as he pushed himself back up to his one usable leg and scrambled up a verge, glimpsing over it to see another line of androids acting as their front defence. His optics locked on a familiar figure at the head, organising their forces and reached out to her.

_North!_

She looked back briefly, beaming at him before spinning back to lay down more covering fire.

**_ Nice to see you haven’t bitten the dust yet! What’s the situation? _ **

_We’ve still got a lot of people trapped in the collapse. Are you able to hold?_

**_ Hold? Hah! We can advance if you really want, we’ve still got all the gas to use.  _ **

Connor’s systems went cold at the mention of that gas. He remembered its effect well and, in a split second of horror, wondered if they’d advanced it from debilitating to lethal. His auto-pilot response brought him a strong sense of surprising relief.

_No, we can’t afford to waste it with the siege of the city still ongoing. Keep the line steady while we evacuate._

**_ You got it. How badly are you hurt? _ **

_Nothing to be concerned with._

Breaking the line of communication, Connor took advantage of the brief moment of peace to duck back into cover. Despite being nervous of what he would find, Connor turned his focus to memories he was sure would be lurking beneath the surface, the clues to what he had missed between his first instance here and now.

**_Gunfire and explosions. The landscape painted with blood, blue and red. A sea of dead bodies on both sides, human and android._ **

**_The agony of watching his own people slowly shut down from a lack of supplies and replacement parts, forced into butchering the remains of those who had perished to preserve those who yet lived._ **

**_A daring raid to salvage what they desperately needed._ **

He snapped back to the present, suddenly understanding the significance of this battle. The humans had realised that the androids had begun to struggle, both sides waning in a city cut off from the rest of the world – a siege that Connor himself had started in an effort to break the humans. They’d begun to drain all the android corpses before allowing Connor to recover them, as per his lone arrangement with Allen. As much as they may be enemies of opposite sides of a war, the one thing they had agreed on was allowing respect for the dead.

The androids were all but out of precious thirium, that was what they had attacked this derelict district of the city for. What they hadn’t anticipated was the humans rigging the building which it was stored in to blow not long after the androids infiltrated it. As one of those who had been leading the raid party, Connor had been inside the complex when it detonated and was caught in the aftermath – he’d been fortunate not to come out with more damage, really.

Connor saw Nines re-emerge from the collapse, two more androids in his arms, but Connor could instantly tell they were dead. He hated that knowing they wouldn’t be saved, instead recycled to preserve those still standing. This vicious cycle was unending until something in the game changed.

Nines’ eyes met Connor’s own, the RK900’s focus on something else. An alert flashed on Connor’s HUD, and he winced at the lancing pain it brought through his mind. That was getting all the more frequent now, he couldn’t help but wonder if it played into all his reality shifting.

**_Connor, I have a lock. Do you wish me to intercept?_ **

_Intercept? What could Nines be talking about?_

He must have taken too long, his response going back through the network before he’d even consciously thought about it. The auto-pilot was becoming less of a forceful feeling: more natural. Connor wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

_Affirmative, keep in contact at all times, Nines. Once you have been successful notify me of your location._

**_Understood. Be safe, Connor._ **

_And you._

The other android leapt up from where he was helping the injured androids and sprinted over to Connor, briefly interfacing with him via Nines placing his hand on Connor’s neck. Information about the injured androids passed through their link, along with a wave of concern and affection that Connor had not been expecting. A small smile passed over his face before Nines embraced Connor in a brief hug. It was only just over a second long, but it was enough to give Connor so many more questions before Nines snapped back to his feet and vanished into the mayhem of the battle.

Coming back to the moment, Connor surveyed the status of trapped androids. He watched for any sort of signal from his forces, but there was nothing evident as of yet. They needed more time. His attention then switched to the heated gunfight happening just past the ridge he was situated against. He had no urge to kill, but with his skills he could surely just incapacitate the humans, right?

No such luck. All of the humans clearly knew from experience the best ways to combat android sensors, including ones as advanced as Connor’s. A thick haze of smoke was stopping Connor from being able to lock on to anything effective. All he was able to do was the same as all the rest of the androids – spray into the fog and hope that he was aiming somewhere which would keep the gunfire coming back in return low. The humans kept shifting position which was just complicated things.

It took the best part of ten minutes for Connor to get a nudge along the network, by which point the battle had almost ground to a halt. Both sides had realised that they weren’t making much progress, the gunfire slowing to little more than the occasional pop shot to deter anyone from advancing. They were at a complete stalemate – just what the androids needed to make their escape.

Connor looked back and saw that those in charge of rescuing their fallen comrades had all pulled away from the destroyed building, carrying the remains and injured androids between them. It was time to withdraw.

“North!” Connor shouted vocally, drawing everyone else’s attention at the same time. He stood and emptied his clip, the other androids doing the same as they retreated back, heading to the sewer entrance that they’d used to launch their sneak attack on the complex in the first place. The group ascended the verge, North being the last and taking Connor’s arm over her shoulders to give him support, before vanishing into the destruction left behind. He wasn’t surprised when her voice spoke to him over the network, her bravado giving way to worry.

**_ Please tell me we at least got the blood. _ **

_We got some, I don’t know how much. It should be enough to at least repair everyone who needs it._

**_ Fuck, you’re a mess. I thought you said it wasn’t anything to be worried about? _ **

_I’m fine._

**_ A busted leg and the whole left of your face glitched out over your scar isn’t fine, Connor. Not to mention whatever added damage there is to the rest of you. _ **

_Nothing that can’t be fixed – ergo, I’m fine._

North was nowhere near convinced, Connor could see that, but the snippiness of his tone succeeded in ending the conversation for now. Once they were out of danger, then they could talk properly. After the events of that battle, there was a lot to go through – and Connor knew he was going to have to face the memories he was avoiding.

If he had any hope of stopping this mad cycle, he needed to understand the whole situation; and that meant he needed to do some digging.

* * *

As it was, Connor never got the chance. They’d barely made it into the sewer system before some of the androids grew critical, and they weren’t about to let more of their people shut down. Breaking open the canisters and crates of blue blood that they’d successfully stolen back, all the functioning androids set about making sure their brethren weren’t going to be lost in the raid.

North made a point of pulling Connor away and setting him down with a firm stare, the RK800 recognising that she was right to do so. He was still steadily bleeding from his wounds and it was a good opportunity for her to try and fix any other damage. Swinging the backpack which she was carrying forward, North pulled out a tiny repair kit and didn’t think twice about ripping Connor’s pants further to get access to the damage.

He raised an eyebrow at her as she smiled innocently. “You could have just asked,” he sighed.

“And you deprive me of that fun? Nah, I like my way better,” she chimed back, the two settling into a pensive silence as North started fiddling with Connor’s leg. They both kept a surveying eye on their surroundings, wincing every time they heard another android break down crying as they lost someone else. Connor was so deep in thought at all the losses that he hadn’t noticed North stop working. “Hey.” Connor turned to meet her gaze at the call. “It’s shit, but we all knew what we were getting into. From what the others are telling me, we got about 85% of the blood stored there. That’s enough to keep us going for another three months with any luck.”

Three months was not long, but Connor was struggling to get to grasps with anything like a timeline here. Every memory was another battle, more lives lost and more blood spilled…He had no idea whatsoever how much time had passed between his first visit here and now. “Not long enough,” he growled, hissing when North clamped off a thirium channel in his ruined leg.

“It would be if you lifted this damn blockade we’ve got going on the edge of the city,” she told him with a flat stare. “All the people we’ve got out there would probably be enough to overrun the humans left, not to mention we could get more in. And getting in contact with Markus and the others would help with information, we’ve been in the dark here for near as damn ten months now.”

_So Markus **is** alive here. Then how did **I** end up leading the androids here with North and Nines?_

“And allow Allen to bring in more humans?” he scoffed. “No, we keep ourselves isolated until the last possible moment – the humans won’t have many more supplies, ten months is already far longer than I thought they would be able to ration out.”

“They’ve got the whole northern half of the city to raid, they could have found more food and water,” North pointed

“Time is not on their side.”

North sighed angrily and put down the tools for a second. “And it isn’t for us either Connor! We’re already skating thin, we can’t keep this up forever.” The two were locked in a furious stare for a few seconds before she placed her hand over his. “Look, I get that you despise the humans, I do too, but don’t lose sight of how many people we are losing ourselves. Is this really worth it if only a handful of androids survive?”

A bleep through both of their systems put the conversation on pause, Connor rapidly accepting the prompt. It was a blessing and a curse: he wasn’t sure he wanted to know that answer to that question.

_Nines, have you been successful?_

**_Indeed I have been. Where do you wish to rendezvous?_ **

_Find a location on the surface and ping me the co-ordinates, I will come meet you._

Connor blatantly ignored the hot glare from North as Nines went on.

**_Understood._ **

The connection ended, and North’ scowl deepened. “You’re really going back up there after that shitstorm? Our people need you right now, Connor!”

“You can escort everyone and the supplies back perfectly well,” he snapped in reply. “If you are unwilling to aid me, leave the repair kit and I will fix myself before I join Nines.”

North continued to stare at him furiously before relenting with a sigh, though she was none too delicate with the rapid repairs. “What is it with RKs being stubborn and irritating assholes?” she muttered, earning a surprised chuckle.

“I thought you’d know that after all these years working with me?” Connor asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“I knew that before you became our big, bad, edgy, asshole of a leader. You’ve just cranked it up a bit today,” she said with a wink.

“Well excuse me for being frustrated at how today’s raid went and wanting to feel accomplished at something,” he spat, eyes falling to the ground. Realising what was getting at him, North yanked another wire and got Connor’s attention snapping back to her. “Fucking hell, North, that hurts!”

“That’s the idea, pisshead.” North let out a long breath as she thrust her hand into Connor’s leg to detach secondary thirium lines from his destroyed biocomponents. “Connor, today was _not_ your fault. We all agreed that storming that place was our best move; yeah it turned out shit and we lost a lot of good people, but you can’t keep carrying the losses of all our people and punishing yourself for it.”

Connor wasn’t sure what she meant until North ran her hand down his mangled arm, and then it suddenly clicked. “I really wish you’d take replacements rather than carry all these wounds,” she lamented sadly.

“You know why I do,” he suddenly growled, open hostility bleeding through. Connor was taken aback by the sudden change, apparently this was a very sensitive subject for him.

_Does this have something to do with how I became this way?_

Realising the change of tone, North just shook her head before continuing, at last finishing her work. “I’ve rerouted your thirium flow around the dead biocomponents, but you won’t have the same functionality until you replace them. Want me to source some out?” Connor just stared at her, to which North crossed her arms defiantly. The two stayed like that for a few seconds until North relented. “Fine, I’ll just dig around for your leg. Deal?”

“Deal,” Connor replied with the slightest hint with a smile. Rolling her eyes, North offered Connor a hand to get back to his feet. Once he was upright, North gave Connor her gun and knives, which the RK800 took without the slightest hesitation. Now armed again, Connor cast a look over the rest of their injured party. “Make sure everyone gets back safe, shift down a mile or so before you contact for backup. Take a long route back through the subway system and then divert back to the nearest camp. We’ll work on separating everything there.”

“Sure, you got it,” she nodded while wandering away.

“North.” She turned back at the calling of her name, and North was taken aback by the coldness in Connor’s stare. “You know exactly what the humans did, why I won’t stop until we have won or I’m dead. I don’t intend to drag our people into that, but they knew what I asked of them when we all came here – you included. You chose to join me because I don’t care how we do it, but we _will_ win this war.”

“I know,” she told him softly, “and I’ll keep standing by you until whatever the end may be. Just be sure you can live with it, Connor.”

Her words struck deep in Connor’s chest, and he had to wonder just _how_ they had come to be like this. He’d come to know North relatively well after the revolution, maybe called their dynamic a casual friendship – but this was clearly far deeper. Whatever had transpired in this reality had led to Connor forging incredibly close friendships with those he chose to stand with in the war. Connor had only even had that sort of relationship with one person, and it was painfully apparent that it wasn’t true here for any number of reasons.

His heart felt like it was crumpling on itself again as his thoughts strayed back to Hank, and the mix of emotions made Connor more confused than ever. Rage, pain, betrayal…

_Hank, what happened between us? Are we…are we really on opposite sides? Please say it isn’t true._

When Connor re-emerged at the surface, he found Nines standing waiting for him. The other android was bloodied across the right half of his face and wore two bullet wounds to the chest without so much as a flinch. Connor wanted to scan him, but knew better by now. “Status?” he asked with a hint of concern.

“Minimal damage, my self-healing has already taken care of most of it. The small accompanying force were rather irritating,” Nines informed him while casting a derisive eye to his catch, to which Connor followed Nines’ stare.

He reeled in shock at seeing a familiar crop of black hair staring at him hatefully, teeth bared in a snarl.

**_Oh fuck no! No!_ **

“Good,” he said instead, despite Connor’s sudden attempts to wrestle control. It was useless and he internally screamed at being forced to play spectator once more. “North will need some help in escorting everyone to a safe location, you’d better get back down there.” Nines stared at him for a long moment, casting one last stare at their captive before nodding and leaving. Connor called out to him before the RK900 vanished completely. “Nines?” When he spun back around, Connor offered him a genuine smile. “Thank you, for digging me out; and for shielding me.”

“You expected anything else?” Nines asked him plainly.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t thank you regardless,” Connor pointed out, even as Nines stared at him with something inscrutable. “I’ll see you back at the camp.”

Nines nodded before departing, but that look in the RK900’s eyes haunted Connor. There was pain there, real pain, and Connor wondered if Nines wore such an unfeeling mask to avoid facing his emotions.

Before he could truly contemplate on it, Connor pulled out the pistol which North had handed to him and began stalking over to the human bound at the wrists and ankles on the ground several metres away. Every wire burned with self-loathing as Connor felt himself come to a stop and stare down indifferently.

This was who Connor had sent Nines to capture specifically: one Tina Chen, who had been in charge of guarding the supply of blue blood. No doubt the one who had caused the collapse which had killed so many and nearly Connor himself.

“It’s been some time since we have seen each other in physical form,” Connor told her, internally recoiling as Tina spat at his face.

“Fuck you, Connor! Your little pet went and murdered all of my battalion before dragging me here to be your latest spectacle?” she sneered. “Do the deaths of so many really mean so little to you?”

“Funny you should mention mass murder after what _you_ did today. Dozens of androids dead at the simple flick of a switch,” he responded coldly. “Not to mention what you did to all the dead over these past weeks.”

“Hah! The killing machine lecturing about the value of life, don’t make me fucking hurl, Connor.” Tina just managed to force herself up into a sitting position, staring at Connor defiantly with a cruel smile. “I know why you had that thing bring me here, and I’m not going to beg for my life. I’ve seen this routine often enough now to know how it goes.” Her eyes fell to his pistol. “Just do it, you bastard.”

Connor screamed internally as his body moved, desperately fighting to stop himself from putting a bullet in the head of someone he respected and liked. Fuck, if he saw himself kill Tina then he didn’t know how he’d keep any semblance of composure if this whole loop started again – which Connor was sure he would. How could he see Tina in the DPD if he executed her here?

The gun was poised at her head, the human resolute. “I once cared about you Connor, I really did,” she told him lowly. “I look back now and wonder how I could after all you’ve done. Do you ever look back with even the slightest ounce of regret? Or was everything you ever professed to ‘feel’ a lie?”

Her words triggered a fearsome burn in Connor’s circuits, along with guilt. Such a deep and black void of guilt; it terrified Connor. Was there some truth to her words? What else could cause _this_?

Both of them were astounded when Connor lowered the gun, instead picking out one of the knives from the straps around his thigh to plunge it into the ground in front of her. It was sharp enough to cut through the ropes – he was giving her the chance to go free. Tina’s composure finally started to crumble, and she stared up at Connor in unfiltered shock. He didn’t offer any sort of explanation before holstering the gun and starting to walk away. “So what, you’re just going to leave me here to rot?!” she bellowed. “Don’t have the guts to pull the trigger on me despite the thousands you’ve killed? Is that what you did to them too?!”

Her voice cracked at last as the realisation that Connor truly was sparing her sank in. “Tell me what happened to them, Connor!” she cried. “I’ve hunted you for years to get that answer, and now you taunt me all the more by leaving me here?! Just fucking tell me what you did to them!”

Connor kept walking, but his mind fixated on her final words.

_Did I-Did I kill someone precious to Tina? What have I **done?**_

His systems began to black out again, and Connor willingly surrendered to it. Anything to get away from this nightmare.

* * *

Once again, he was in the Zen Garden. Once again, that same woman stood there.

The snow had given way to a thick and enveloping fog, so oppressive that Connor almost felt like he wanted to shiver. It was a feeling unlike anything he’d known until then, but he was growing all the more confused by what he was learning. What was the point of all this?

He strode up to her, seeing her outfit had now changed. The blazer and trousers had given way to a lab coat and skirt, thick framed glasses now defining her face. It gave her a decidedly different countenance, but her expression was less hostile this time. Now it was simply calculating, as if she was trying to analyse Connor like a puzzle.

Connor wasn’t in the mood for games after all he’d just seen.

“How are you doing this to me?” he demanded.

“Bold of you to assume that I am in some way a mastermind as to your current events,” she pointed out, but Connor simply glared in response.

“You said before that the only question which mattered was ‘who I am’. Why force me to play out these events to get your answer? Why make me nothing more than a helpless viewer with no control?” His voice climbed with every question, anger and frustration at his predicament filtering through.

“Questions, questions.” She narrowed her eyes at Connor while crossing her arms. “So many questions.”

“Cut the bullshit,” he finally snapped. “Who are you, and why are you doing this to me?”

“I am under no obligation to tell you _anything_ ,” she sneered in reply, “but I will offer you this. You can call me a ‘Dreamweaver’, of sorts.”

“Androids don’t dream,” Connor told her, to which she raised an eyebrow.

“Then tell me this, Connor. If you are not dreaming, then what  _are_ you doing? Do you genuinely believe that you are playing out three lives? Such a thing is not possible.”

Connor stared at her suspiciously. “Are you saying that only one of these worlds is my reality, and that the other two are fake?”

“I am saying no more. Clearly, there is still much we both have to learn.”

Feeling the pain encroach once more, Connor crumbled to his knees while staring up at her desperately. “Why…Why do this?” he begged breathlessly.

Her stare remained passive as she finally gave him some semblance of an explanation. “People need answers, Connor.” Before he could respond, Connor collapsed into the blackness.

_Answers? To what…?_

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 42%**  
**CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate ZenGarden.exe  
_Initiate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*1V1I*

 **LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 39% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 53%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loop number 2 is complete. 
> 
> So, any more theories? Please let me know! I'd love to see how much of the mystery you guys are unravelling!


	7. Betrayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm loving all the theories that are coming in from you guys! Please feel free to keep them coming in, and whether you have new ones! I'm intrigued by which details you are all picking up on and which ones seem to be slipping under the radar...
> 
> So, er, you guys are probably not going to like me for what's happening this time. The chapter title is a rather large clue...
> 
> **Trigger warnings for this chapter:** Police-typical violence, detailed descriptions of violence and injuries, critical character injury.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 42%**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 39% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 53%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

“Still not a damn thing. How can we have been digging for near as damn two months and have _nothing?!_ ”

Connor’s eyes snapped open at the angry snarl to his right, turning his gaze to find Hank sitting with his head in his hands. They were back at Hank’s house, sat in the living room with a sea of papers was scattered in front of them. He quickly identified them all be personnel files belonging to members of the DPD. Many faces stuck out among the multitude of photographs, a tiny smile coming to Connor’s face as he came across some of those he was much more familiar with. Chris, Ben, Gavin, Tina-

His pump froze at seeing the proud, smiling face of Tina Chen. The distraught and enraged face of the same woman from the war was now permanently burned into Connor’s memory, no matter how much he may wish to remove it – and with it, her words became stuck almost on a loop in Connor’s mind.

**_“I’ve hunted you for years to get that answer, and now you taunt me all the more by leaving me here?! Just fucking tell me what you did to them!”_ **

_Who could Tina have meant? What did I **do** to cause her to go to such lengths to find answers and attempt to end me?_

Thus far, Connor had not attempted to recall memories from any of the other realities when he was inhabiting the form of his current one. Now that he was back in the DPD, he may have an opportunity to study more about the memories he had unlocked.

First things first, however. Hank was still bowed over the desk, head clutched in his hands as he stared at an enormous list of names. All the members of the DPD, names highlighted in different colours. With a concealed wince, Connor tried to access the recent memories of this version of himself to learn what had transpired between his visits.

**_Dozens of nights spent pouring over files, diving into the personal lives of their friends and colleagues._ **

**_Isolating themselves personally and professionally as they try to discover who within the DPD is helping the anti-android group._ **

It was just the same pattern over and over again. They’d both pushed hard to solve the mystery, but came up with almost nothing. All they’d managed to do was narrow down their list of suspects based off what little information they’d put together based off their colleagues’ personality profiles. A lot of the information they had dredged up almost bordered on being acquired illegally, but Fowler was happy to turn a blind eye to whatever methods they were using.

For a case with such far-reaching repercussions as this one, he was happy to bend the rules and find a way to contain the fallout later.

Connor’s gaze flickered down the list once again, separating all the names into individual sub lists now that he recollected how Hank had organised his colour based system. Blue for a confirmed android supporter, green for someone they were now sure was clean. Yellow for an unknown factor or insufficient evidence, and red for those that were under increased suspicion. Almost one third of the list was down to yellow and red, but it was some of the names on the green and blue lists that had Connor’s attention.

All of those he was close with were confirmed to be on the clean list, save for Gavin. He’d been placed in the supporters list, and Connor couldn’t think why until he brought up Gavin’s file and realised he’d missed a massive piece of the puzzle.

RK900: he’d now appeared in this timeline, and Gavin had volunteered to be his partner. Not only that, but Connor _finally_ had a date to work from for the first time. Their partnership had begun on May 17th 2039.

That meant Connor wasn’t that far from his last recorded date of February 27th 2039\. This reality was very close to what he last remembered, but he still wasn’t convinced that _this_ was his timeline after all he’d seen and been through. All three realities felt just as real as each other, and there was still the small issue of the ‘auto-pilot’ which was making sure he didn’t stray too far.

Speaking of which…

“We still have time, Hank,” Connor said in reassurance, internally sighing as he did so. That hadn’t been anything like what he’d been planning to say to Hank, he’d actually been attempting to ask him about when the RK900 first appeared at the precinct.

He was still at least partially stuck, but Connor was beginning to feel less dissociated within his own body. It was almost as if he was getting a little more settled now, and his thoughts were beginning to align more with whatever ‘this’ version of him would do.

_Is this me slipping more into character, or am I finally beginning to get a grasp on my own reality? This is something I’ll have to investigate more the next time I ended up jumping across._

Connor knew it would happen sooner rather than later, he just hoped he’d have a lot more answers by the time it occurred; and he’d be lying if he were to say he was anything but excited to get back to that reality. It offered him a chance to experience something he so desperately wanted.

His eyes took in Hank’s exhausted form, and remained when the Lieutenant’s own raised to meet his. The soft, if defeated, smile the human gave him made Connor’s pump stutter – he wanted it to hold the same meaning here as it did where they were married, but Connor couldn’t be sure that he was projecting the confused emotions across.

Not that his stupid auto-pilot would let him suddenly kiss Hank out of the blue, anyway.

“Con, you know as well as I do that the vote for the Android Rights Bill is in less than a week. We’ve really got nothing to go off here, and there’s a real danger it’s going to fail with all the media fallout of recent weeks. Now that news of the mayor’s relationship with an android has gotten out, we need to find proof that Michelle was murdered if this thing has a chance at succeeding,” Hank helpfully told him, filling in a lot of the gaps in Connor’s timeline. From everything he’d learned in his previous visits here and what he’d deduced from the date he’d finally found, Connor guessed that he was somewhere in the range of June 2039.

He was really wishing he hadn’t been reality hopping, then maybe he could help a bit more with this case. As it was, when Connor tried to dig a little harder into his fragmented memories to learn more, his HUD cracked right across the top right corner.

Hank saw when Connor hissed in pain, the android grasping his head in response to the simulated damage to his mind palace. “Still getting glitches, huh, Con? I thought you said that the Jericho crew fixed them all,” he said, concerned.

“This isn’t something they can help with, sadly,” Connor replied honestly, feeling a little better now that he wasn’t being forced by the auto-pilot. Who knew, maybe listening to it rather than trying to fight this pre-arranged path was going to help him solve what was happening to him? He could guess that he was showing up at these times for very specific reasons, and the _why_ was probably the key to understanding it all.

“You gonna be okay?” Hank pressed, reaching over to press a hand to Connor’s shoulder. Connor smiled at the gesture and decided to push the boundaries a little.

He was delighted when he realised he was free enough to stretch up and cover Hank’s hand with his own, earning a surprised but affectionate stare in return. Connor nodded at him while maintaining eye contact. “I’ll be fine, Hank. This is something that will be resolved in time.”

“If you say so,” he nodded before pulling his hand back, to which Connor was sad to let him go. Hank’s focus shifted back to the files scattered around them. “You got anywhere with your recent round of searches?”

This time, Connor was happy to take a back seat and let the auto-pilot kick in. Now that he wasn’t fighting it, the feeling was actually not too alarming. If anything, it was a little…comfortable?

_What an odd conclusion to come to._

“Unfortunately not, and despite Captain Fowler bringing in the RK900 to help, even he is still unable to get anywhere,” Connor replied, to which Hank sighed and stared at their list of DPD employees again.

“Are you two really sure Reed is someone you’d consider a supporter? I’d be shocked at Gavin not being clean, the guy’s one of the few decent cops I know, but this is a bit of a surprise. I’m still not convinced that bringing Gavin in on this is the best idea given his past anti-android links.”

“900 is completely convinced, in fact I’ve not heard him be so adamant about anything,” Connor reassured his partner. “I think his suggestion to bring on Gavin is sound based off the information and recordings he has passed me, and 900 has been thorough in his studying of Detective Reed. We will need more help to solve this case, Hank.”

“The guy’s sure that Reed can be trusted to the point he’s willing to stake this whole investigation on it, yet he won’t pick a damn name. Funny what priorities you androids set,” Hank snorted, eliciting a snicker from Connor.

“Well, I can’t say much given looking after Sumo is my second top priority,” Connor teased, to which the dog looked up from his bed in the living room at the calling of his name. When two sets of eyes fell upon him, Sumo yawned before trundling over, dropping his head between his two owners sat on the couch.

Hank chuckled as Sumo huffed at the lack of pets. “Oh I’m sorry, are we not paying enough attention to you? You were asleep until ten damn seconds ago,” he smiled while petting the large St Bernard.

Connor giggled while joining Hank in running his hands over Sumo’s fur. “How could I not make a face this cute such a priority?” he cooed while scratching Sumo’s head, delighting at the low grumble it earned from the dog.

“Makes me wonder what manages to top him in your list – and if you say fucking work, I’m going to be tossing you out on your ass, rain be damned.”

Laughing at Hank’s threat, Connor felt himself flush and dropped his gaze to Sumo. “I’m sure you can work it out,” he mumbled while leaning down to kiss the dog’s muzzle, earning a contented huff back.

Raising an eyebrow at how Connor blatantly dodged answering the question, Hank was about to ask more when his phone rang. It caught both of them off guard, the Lieutenant standing from the couch to grab it from where it was situated on the kitchen table. Connor turned his attention back to Sumo and spoke to him softly, pleased to see that his interactions with their dog weren’t limited at least. “Is it worth telling him the truth? I don’t think he’d believe me anyway,” he lamented softly.

“It’s hard to remind myself that he isn’t mine here, after getting those snapshots of a life we could have together. Does he even think about me romantically in this reality?” Sumo whined at hearing the melancholy in Connor’s voice and nudged his head into the android’s chest. Connor wrapped himself snugly around the dog in gratitude.

He then heard Hank sigh deeply from the kitchen and turned his attention back to his partner. The older man had a severe look on his face while staring down at his phone, something which had Connor concerned. “Hank?” he asked just loudly enough to get the lieutenant’s attention.

Hank’s eyes lifted to meet Connor’s own. It took a couple of seconds before he finally spoke in reply. “That was Fowler. He’s found something that he wants us to look at – he’ll be here in half an hour.”

* * *

True to his word, Fowler appeared thirty one minutes later. The serious look on his face was enough to tell both Hank and Connor that whatever the police Captain had uncovered, it was something that couldn’t be discussed where there could be prying ears. “Hank, Connor,” he greeted gruffly, nodding to the android who had opened the door as he entered. “Sorry to just turn up like this out of the blue, I hope this is an ample apology.”

Connor scowled at the two pizza boxes Fowler was carrying while Hank laughed from the kitchen. “You’re winning me over, Jeffrey, but you’re probably going to annoy my resident health nut over there,” he teased while taking the boxes from the other man and placing them down on the kitchen table. Realising the new entrant to the house, Sumo jumped down from where he had been settled on the sofa and barked at Fowler.

The captain chuckled while kneeling to pet the dog. “Well, it’s been a while, Sumo. You’re looking in better nick than the last time I say you, boy,” Fowler said to the hound while ruffling his fur.

“Course he does, he’s got Connor fussing over him all the time,” Hank pointed out.

Fowler shook his head while standing again. “You do realise that you looking after this pair of old dogs isn’t in your contract, right, Connor?” Fowler said warmly as Sumo wandered off towards Hank’s bedroom, heading for the dog bed nestled away inside the wardrobe. Connor had turned on a heater inside the space for a while to give Sumo a warmer place to sleep while Fowler was there, not wanting the dog to feel neglected since they were all surely going to be in the midst of a very serious discussion.

After both humans tucked into a few slices of pizza and shared some general chat to ease the notable tense atmosphere, Fowler recognised that they couldn’t put the subject of his sudden appearance off any longer. “As you’ve both no doubt guessed, I didn’t simply come here for a social call,” he began, earning studious looks from both Hank and Connor in return. Fowler, from where he was sat on the recliner, went into a backpack and pulled out several files. He passed them over to Hank and Connor, who were sitting on the sofa.

“While we’ve all been going through the personal histories of all the employees in the DPD, RK900 has been surveying countless hours of security footage in an effort to match the identities of our mystery bombers. He didn’t manage to have any success until today.” The other two were currently staring at the four photos at the front of the file. “Those two on the left are our bombers, the two on the right are former members of an anti-android group. According to what Reed told 900, they’ve since moved on to a group that are growing more vocal in their propaganda with the upcoming vote on android rights.”

“900’s brought Reed in on this already?” Hank asked in a cautious tone, to which Fowler nodded.

“Turns out Reed’s prior affiliations with these groups has helped us put a lot more pieces together. He’s adamant that he’s seen those two at meet-ups from before the revolution, and the tippers he’s still got in the groups have confirmed that they had shifted to a more extremist wing,” Fowler explained.

“Now we’ve got to come up with a plan to bring them in for questioning that will not potentially warn any others involved in these events,” Connor surmised while flicking to the pages beneath, seeing another twelve mug shots beneath.

“The officers on the page underneath are our new list of top priority suspects. We need to filter this lot down within the next two days so that we can round up as many as we can before the vote to try and nail down this group,” Fowler told him. “I’ve briefed the mayor of our progress and we’ve got a go on bringing in as many of this lot as needed to get a confession. These four…” Fowler leant over to pull out the main page again. “are going to be seized whatever happens. We need to get them talking.”

“Well, if you’ve got Reed involved then I’d say he’s the perfect candidate,” Hank smirked. “He’s pretty good at getting people to squeal.”

“Actually, Hank, I’d like to take a crack at them,” Connor volunteered, earning a surprised look from his partner.

“You sure, Con? This case is pretty personal to you,” Hank said softly, to which Connor smiled at him sadly.

“It’s personal to both of us given what this could mean for androids if the Bill fails to pass. We’ve all got a stake in this, and I’ve got the advantage of my software to tracks vitals and look for subconscious tells. Not that I doubt Gavin, but I want to do this,” the android told him, to which Fowler hummed with an impressed smile.

“Well, if you’re all that eager to have a go at this lot feel free to argue it amongst yourselves, but we’ll need a plan. All our suspects are scattered across the precincts of Detroit, so it will need to be a co-ordinated effort,” the captain went on.

“Leave that to me, I’ll find a way,” Hank said resolutely, to which Fowler nodded in satisfaction. “You wanting another beer, Jeffrey?” he asked more light-heartedly, to which Fowler chuckled.

“Sure, why not? I’ll just get a cab back home and pick up my car in the morning: means I can make sure you two get your asses in on time for once. Sorry, I’ll rephrase that. It means I can watch Connor kick you out of bed and drag your grumpy ass around.”

Connor couldn’t help bursting out into a fit of giggles. Hank scowled at him, but there was a tiny smile flicker at the corner of his mouth which gave away his amusement at the reaction. “Yeah, laugh it up, Con. I’m just going to be an asshole to annoy you now,” he threatened, to which Connor just winked at him.

“Enjoy getting sprayed with the garden hose then,” Connor replied, completely deadpan, which had Fowler howling in laughter as Hank glared back. With a smile on his face, Connor stood to go through to the kitchen to fetch two more bottles of beer for the humans.

As he closed the fridge door again, however, Connor picked up movement outside the window. Movement that was definitely not from an animal.

His systems kicked up a notch and Connor fought through the rapid static clouding his HUD to try and get a good look at the perpetrator outside, but there was no way he could get a positive ID. It was then that he noticed a second shadow moving out there.

The timing was far too co-incidental given Fowler’s presence – Connor pinged the DPD servers to let them know of a potential incident at 115 Michigan Drive while sending a message to Gavin that they were in danger.

Seconds later, Connor saw the two at the back raising machine guns in readiness to fire.

**_“Get down!”_** he screamed while diving towards the living room, thankful when Hank and Fowler did as instructed without a second’s thought.

Gunfire ripped through the walls of the two rooms only about a metre high, had the trio not gone prone on the floor they would have been shot to pieces. Sumo began barking and whining from the bedroom – which had not been assaulted – while the three men kicked at furniture to generate themselves some cover. Connor slid along the floor to reach Hank, who had tipped over the coffee table and kicked the sofa to a better angle to guard against the maelstrom of bullets. Fowler had knocked over the recliner to give himself better protection only a couple of metres.

“Con, get to the garage and slip out!” Hank told him while ducking out of the way. “See if you can stop them from the outside while we hold their attention!” Reluctant as he was to leave the pair on their own, Connor knew it was the only choice they really had. With final heavy look between them, Connor nodded before looking to the space between the sofa and the hallway. He was undoubtedly going to take some damage with the sheer amount of gunfire, but he was sure he could make it.

He heard Hank’s cry of his name as he sprinted across, blue blood spattering from the six shots he took to his body. Three to his torso, one to his right arm and two in his left leg. None of it was substantial, he would be able to self-repair all of it once the bullets were out, which he could do later. Hearing Sumo’s barks, Connor stopped briefly to look inside the bedroom to scan the dog, beyond thankful that he was unharmed. They’d only targeted the occupants of the living room.

Knowing that he couldn’t waste time, Connor barged open the door to the garage and went to the shutters. He threw them upwards, well aware that the noise would draw attention to him. Three machine guns switched their focus to him, and Connor dove behind the car parked out front to give himself at least a semblance of cover. Shots could be heard coming back from the house itself now, Hank and Fowler having finally been able to reach their own guns to fight back.

Connor ducked up to fire at the three humans standing on the front lawn, but he was instantly struck by four more bullets on his right hand shoulder. That was more serious damage that he knew he probably wasn’t going to be able to fix himself. Left with little choice, Connor fired blindly over the hood of the car to at least cause a break in the onslaught. It was at least partially successful.

His triumph was short lived however when he heard a close-range fight start inside the house, gunshots being traded in what almost sounded like a twisted game of tennis.

Sirens starting blaring in the distance, help was coming. Shouting from the men caught Connor’s attention and he looked up to see four of them carrying two more assailants between them, throwing the two downed ones into a van which was parked on the street before diving inside themselves. Connor shot at their tires to try and stop their getaway, but they were reinforced to the point that Connor’s attack did little more than start a slow puncture in one.

They sped away into the distance, leaving the carnage behind.

Sumo’s whimpering from inside caused Connor to snap his focus back to the house itself, and he ran back in through the garage. “Hank!” No answer.

Pump pounding, Connor ran into the living room and his systems froze at seeing the sea of red on the floor. Two very large puddles just in front of the hallway, the footsteps through them confirming that it was from their attackers, but it had all been speckled over with some sort of white powder. Analysing it had to wait, however, as Connor spied the prone forms lying slumped on the floor behind the makeshift cover.

Hank and Fowler – both bleeding heavily and unconscious.

“No!” Connor crumpled to his knees next to Hank, ignoring the vicious pain in his head as he scanned to see all the injuries. Three gunshots: one to Hank’s left shin which had shattered it, another wedged in his left hip and a much more serious one in Hank’s left shoulder. He was in danger of bleeding out. “Hank, please…” Connor begged while tearing away part of the sofa cushion to use for pressure over Hank’s shoulder wound. “Hold on, help is coming!”

Connor’s eyes raised to Fowler a few feet away, seeing the police captain leaning against the coffee table. He had six shots to the chest and abdomen; it didn’t take someone with any sort of medical knowledge to know that Fowler was critical and would have severe injuries. Connor’s scanners confirmed that three of the man’s ribs were shattered and his right lung had collapsed along with damage to his right kidney.

They were both in a very serious condition.

Sirens were getting ever closer as Connor kept a fierce pressure on Hank’s shoulder wound. His face was ghostly pale and Connor fought down tears at seeing him so fragile. “No, you can’t die on me, Hank. You can’t…” he pleaded, no longer fighting the flood as he allowed the tears to fall.

His systems began to seize again, Connor recognising the signs of what was happening to his body as his HUD began to glitch and crack. It was happening: he was about to leave this reality but he couldn’t go **_now_**. Not with Hank’s life hanging the balance – if this _was_ his reality then he wasn’t about to let the chance to save him go without a fight.

“ _No!”_ he bellowed, screaming as the pain got worse. “ _I won’t leave him like this!”_ A swarm of images flooded Connor’s mind as he tried to fight the pull, but it wasn’t enough.

His last thought was to pray that Hank survived just as his systems blacked out.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 47%**  
**CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*1V1I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X4I*2I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 52% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 45%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My bad... Feel free to scream. I know I did when writing this.


	8. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, my bad about that cliffhanger...and you're going to have to wait until the next cycle before you find out about who has lived and died. I haven't tagged this story for character deaths for nothing, you know! There was a reason I added that you're going to need lots of tissues as one of the story tags.
> 
> Saying that...this chapter is emotional for more than one reason. This time we have our one and only instance of smut! If you don't want to read it, scroll down to the first break in the chapter: it's not a critical part of the storyline, but Connor does have somewhat of an emotional awakening during it.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 47%**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 52% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 45%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

“Con! Connor, wake up!”

The android jolted upwards sharply, thirium pump hammering and breath feeling like it was stuck in his chest. He had barely realised that he’d shifted reality again before Connor was yanked into a bone-crushing hug. A familiar scent, even more familiar arms and a voice that he’d know anywhere…

Connor felt himself dissolve into tears and buried himself into Hank’s chest, wrapping himself around the human in desperate need. After what he’d just seen and experienced: knowing that he might have been wrenched away from the reality and it had condemned that version of Hank to death-No, Connor was refusing to think that. That was something he couldn’t deal with.

“H-Hank…” he stuttered out, selfishly absorbing how he felt Hank’s hands running over his back and whimpering when he felt lips connect with his forehead.

“Jesus, Con. I’ve never seen you that scared, sweetheart,” Hank soothed, pulling back enough to look Connor in the eye. “I know you’ve had nightmares since they brought that update to your stasis cycle but that was…You screamed so badly that I thought someone had attacked you, my heart almost gave out when I heard it.”

Ducking back into the warmth of Hank’s arms, Connor pressed himself right into the scent of Hank’s t-shirt and didn’t fight the tears which were still streaming from his eyes. The older man simply held him as Connor shook on the spot, trying to chase away the awful memories of what he had just seen and focus on the present instead. Hank wasn’t lying bleeding out on the floor; he was safe, warm and _here_. In their bed.

Connor slowly peeled his head away from the safety of Hank’s embrace to look up at him, and his pump thundered in response. The concern and love there made Connor just want to stay locked in that gaze forever. Blue eyes were shining in the moonlight which bathed their room, and Connor was transfixed in how _alive_ it made Hank look.

“Talk to me, honey,” Hank urged him, bringing a hand up to cup Connor’s face. “What did you see?”

The android shook his head vehemently and took in another shuddering breath. “I-I can’t, Hank. I can’t-”

“Shhhh, it’s okay, Con, it’s okay.” Connor allowed himself to be pulled into the crook of Hank’s neck and lined himself up with the other man’s body fully, sinking into the warmth it afforded. “You can do it – bottling things up solves nothing, you taught me that.” Hank kissed Connor’s forehead where his LED would have been if were still there, but that spot was still highly sensitive even without it. Feeling the smile against his synthskin as Connor shivered, Hank knew it and using that fact to his advantage. “Don’t shut yourself away, sweetheart.”

It took almost a full minute of silence before Connor let out a few quiet words. “I saw…I saw you get shot, Hank. You were bleeding and I-I-”

Before Connor was truly aware of what was happening, Hank had pulled his head back and locked him in a fearsome kiss. Even that was enough for him to understand. Connor surrendered to the long probe of his mouth, whimpering at the emotion behind it. When Hank broke away, he pressed his forehead tightly to Connor’s. “I’m here, Con. _We’re_ here, everything’s okay. That isn’t going to happen, sweetheart, trust me.”

He did trust Hank, he trusted him with his life. But having seen how fragile and easy it was for a human life to slip away…

Connor slammed their lips together again, fisting his hands in Hank’s hair and shivered at how the other man’s own hands gripped the android’s hips possessively. They’d shared a few intimate moments in those times that Connor had been here before, the easy affection between them something so tangible that Connor could almost reach out and grab it. This though? This was complete emotional desperation, the need to feel just how alive Hank was through the connection between them.

Lips, hands, heartbeat – _oh the heartbeat_ – Hank’s was racing, Connor’s a perfect rhythm in response, but it wasn’t the same thing. The android’s pump regulator was speeding instead. That, for all intents and purposes, was his own way of answering in kind. A difference in their biology, one of the many.

And yet it all came down to them here and now, two people tangled together within their marital bed: completely and utterly in love.

_Let this be my reality, please._

It was a silent plea in Connor’s mind, but he wanted it with all his being. He’d never wanted anything so strongly before.

“Hank…” Connor murmured as the human pulled away for breath, knowing what he wanted to experience with his husband. All the way until the last point he remembered, Connor knew that he’d never had sex with anyone, he’d not even explored the sexual functions CyberLife gave him as part of his role as an investigative android. Right now though, all he was aware of was how his body was awakening under Hank’s touch: of the answering heat and rigidity of his partner’s length in kind.

Without a word, Hank wrestled Connor’s tank top off before rolling him onto his back, pressing the android into the bed. As Hank’s lips and hands began to follow unfathomable patterns that only the human knew, Connor cried out at the sincerity of every brush. He couldalmost feel the love imparted in each caress physically, it was so overwhelming. More tears welled in his eyes at experiencing such intimacy, especially with the man he cared about more than anyone.

Connor hadn’t realised just how deep his love for Hank went until that moment. The attraction almost went unsaid, but the desperation to keep him safe, alive and vibrant-To journey through life always at his side. It was almost like he’d deviated all over again, opening his eyes to what the world should be. What _his_ world should be.

_Don’t let me lose this, please. I can’t bear if this is nothing more than an impossible dream._

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Connor hadn’t noticed Hank move back up his body, brushing the tears away from his face while smiling down so softly that Connor’s pump almost jumped at it. “I’m here, it was only a dream,” he soothed while leaning down to bring their lips together in a tender yet desperate kiss.

Wrapping his arms around Hank’s neck and shoulders, Connor arched his hips up slowly. He shuddered when their matching erections brushed against each other, Hank groaning at the contact through his mouth. Not content with that, Connor’s hands flew to Hank’s waist and pulled his t-shirt up, the pair barely parting long enough to drag it clear of his head before diving back into each other’s mouths. Connor’s synthskin peeled away as he mapped out Hank’s chest, feeling a strange recollection at the multitude of scars and remnants he came across.

Healed scabs from bullets and knife wounds, the change in texture when he ran his fingers over Hank’s tattoo. The worn and aging skin of his chest and abdomen, fine hairs of grey which Connor could weave between his digits and feel them slip into the grooves of his joints. A roadmap of over fifty years of life, a frame of time that Connor couldn’t truly comprehend with how little he had lived. Who knew how long he’d _actually_ been alive in this timeline, but that wasn’t important at that moment.

Right now, all he could focus on was the body of his husband, pinning him down into the mattress and growing more aroused by the second.

A whine caught in Connor’s throat when one of Hank’s hands tweaked a nipple, the other dropping to carelessly shove away at their shorts. He’d barely pushed them down far enough to get their cocks free before the pair of them were rutting against each other, gasping into each other’s mouths at the friction. Connor bit his lip when Hank’s hand wrapped around them both, stroking them off together. “Ah! Hank, please,” Connor begged, letting his legs fall as far open as the restrictive clothing would allow.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he whispered in reply, pulling away long enough to undress the two of them. Now bare to Hank’s eager eyes, Connor whined again and spread his legs out in invitation, earning an appreciative growl from his husband. “Dammit, Con, even after all this time I still can’t believe you’re mine.”

The next thing Connor knew, his length was wrapped in the blistering heat of Hank’s mouth.

He cried out at the sudden change, quivering as he fought to keep still and not thrust inside. The change was overwhelming and Connor’s systems felt like they were glitching all over again, only this time for a very good reason. It was so different to what he’d imagined, the android writhing on the sheet as Hank’s mouth set to work. A slow pace, but it still felt like too much to Connor. While he knew that in this reality it would have been something they would have experienced regularly as a married couple, this was _his_ first time and his emotions were already strung out horrendously. As loving as this was…

…it was by equal measures threatening to break his heart if this wasn’t real. He’d give _anything_ if it meant this could be his life.

Hank noticed how Connor was getting lost in his own head and left the android’s cock, shifting back up the bed to cradle Connor’s head within his space of his forearms. Being enveloped in Hank’s warmth helped to still Connor’s racing mind and he let out a long breath as Hank’s lips descended to his forehead. It was a grounding action, a reminder of exactly where he was, who he was with. When Hank’s lips moved away from there and began to kiss further down the android’s face, Connor quickly shuffled up the sheets to lock his own lips to his husband’s in a desperate need to feel him closer.

A low growl emanated from Hank’s throat and the vibrations which travelled to Connor’s mouth made the android whine in response. Connor barely noticed when one of Hank’s hands slipped from around his head and circled around their bodies, but he moaned loudly when it made contact again with his cock before slipping down his taint towards his hole. He bit his lip and couldn’t stop himself from bucking towards Hank’s hand, who was smiling at the reaction.

“Easy, baby, don’t hurt yourself,” Hank whispered with a smile while reaching his other hand over to the bedside table. Connor whimpered when he saw the lube appear and stretched down to paw at Hank’s own straining erection, earning a pleased purr in response. It twitched simply from the tentative touch and Connor grew bolder in response, taking a firmer hold and watching raptly as Hank’s eyes rolled backwards. “Let me prep you, Con,” he urged softly, brushing Connor’s hand away so that all his focus was on the android beneath him.

Connor’s gasp morphed into a small yelp as Hank’s lube slicked flingers breached him, and the older man immediately stopped. “You okay, honey?” Hank asked worriedly, to which Connor nodded back with wide eyes.

“Yes, it’s just cold. _Keep going,”_ Connor begged, bearing down to drag Hank’s fingers further inside. He got the hint and hissed under his breath as he continued to finger Connor open.

Just this was making Connor’s processors stutter and he moaned at how a third finger quickly joined the first two. They were just barely teasing at his prostate and despite his attempts to make firm contact, Hank could see the bodily reactions and kept Connor from reaching his prize. It was infuriating with the heat and need Connor could feel burning in his wires. “Hank-”

“Shhhh, I’m not going to hurt you because we went too quick,” Hank told him firmly. “I’m almost there, baby, just hold on a little longer.” The android whined in reply before gasping as Hank’s fingers _finally_ hit that spot. Connor’s head thrashed as sparks shot through his systems and he bucked back in bliss. Hank’s smile warmed Connor’s pump, and the android reached up to drag him into a desperate kiss, his husband answering in kind.

It wasn’t long before Hank finally deemed him ready and slipped out, slicking his length instead. Connor tightened a little as it reached his hole, but the nervousness was drowned out by the searing heat of Hank’s cock as it sank inside him. He moaned, long and loud, thrusting back as his husband started a languid pace.

Their lovemaking was unhurried, less about the need for release and more focused on the desperate want to stay as closely connected as was possible for two people to be. Eyes stayed locked on the other, even as they gasped and groaned into each other’s mouths. It was a slow building of pleasure and they didn’t need to a say a word, just losing themselves in the moment and each other.

More tears welled in Connor’s eyes at the completeness he felt and he tried to fight them back. Hank noticed instantly and didn’t so much as bat an eyelid, instead shifting them to offer Connor a new position. He leant up against their headboard and pulled Connor on to his lap, the android whining at how this let him rest his hands over Hank’s body in a different way – he could feel his husband’s heartbeat thundering away beneath his palms, relishing how the hands which gripped his hips were blazing, and Connor could even feel Hank’s pulse through them.

All little reminders of just how _alive_ they both were at that moment.

Neither of them could last long with such raw affection and love pulsing between them, their focus not of the physical act of sex but the emotions carried within every caress and thrust instead. Connor’s frenzied mind came apart faster than he thought it would, and it was only a few minutes before he started crying out, feeling himself right on the edge of bliss. From how Hank’s own thrusts were getting more frantic and less controlled, it felt like he was at the same point.

Connor’s arms wrapped around Hank’s shoulders, bringing their foreheads together as he started begging. “Hank-Hank, please!”

“Come with me, baby, come!” Hank bellowed, the pair of them screaming out in release only seconds later. Connor zoned out completely as the ecstasy of their coupling washed over him, and he refused to let anymore tears fall. He wouldn’t think on what happened there anymore, not in a moment as perfect as this. This…this had to be his reality, it just had to.

There was no way that he could feel anything so complete and amazing that wasn’t real, right?

He must have slipped into a small stasis cycle after the overload of emotions, because it felt like he’d just blinked and everything changed. Connor was now lying on the bed again and could feel a damp washcloth running over his skin. A quick look down saw Hank smiling softly back at him as he washed away the remains of their lovemaking, and Connor’s pump pounded at the view. He loved this. He really, truly…

_Loved._

Hank came up to lay next to him once both of them were clean, running his hands in a feather light caress over Connor’s chest. It was equal parts soothing and intimate. “You think you can go back to sleep, honey?” he asked softly, unsurprised when Connor shook his head. He wasn’t going to risk shifting reality again by trying to slip into stasis. “All right, let’s get dressed and head to the office then. Maybe we can get a good load of work in today and leave it to Gavin and Richard to lock up so we can go to a movie or something?”

Connor’s eyes drifted to the clock at Hank’s side of the bed, seeing 03:53 glowing in blue. “Are you sure, Hank? It’s rather early for you,” Connor questioned, to which Hank leant down to kiss him softly.

“Yeah, I’m sure, Con. You know I won’t be able to sleep if you’re upset. Come on, at least if it’s just us in there we’ll actually get some work done until the rest of them pile in.” Hank winked down at him just at the older man was preparing to get up. “Besides, we don’t have to tone down on the PDA if it’s just you and me.”

The android laughed warmly as he allowed Hank to pulled him to his feet. After those little snippets he got the last time he was here, he could see why they had to make an effort to keep their physical affection lower around the others. It was just natural to be that way with each other, and Connor was looking forward to the chance to work with Hank in that setting without being conscious of showing his affection.

* * *

As it was, when they got to the office just over 40 minutes later, Hank and Connor shared a look at seeing the lights on. Their senses were instantly alert, and the pair approached the door warily, only to be very confused when they could see it was locked. Now more curious than wary of a break-in, the pair opened up and made a cursory sweep of the front before heading in further.

It was only mildly surprising to see they had extra company after that.

“Why the fuck did you two ask for keys while we were away if Richard’s just able to break in?” Hank asked in mild amusement, to which Gavin looked up from where they were working at the man’s desk in complete shock. Richard’s own face was intrigued as he took in Hank and Connor’s appearances, the RK800 knowing that he would be noting Hank was still a little fatigued and Connor was restless.

“Fucking hell, what are you two doing here at half 4 in the morning?” Gavin asked while Hank went over to their coffee machine, grabbing one for himself and another for Gavin. The younger man took it without any fuss and even gave an appreciative nod.

“Bad night, dreams are a bitch sometimes,” Hank told them, to which Connor was only slightly surprised that his husband didn’t explain that it was _him_ who’d been suffering from them. If only it was a dream – he hoped it was. “You guys make a habit of this or…?”

“This isn’t regular, no,” Richard told them while interfacing with Gavin’s computer. “I know you two like to tease us about being workaholics, but we don’t normally frequent the office at this time of the morning.”

“Morning? It’s still dead of night, Rich,” Gavin told him with a raised eyebrow. “Anyway, that’s getting away from the point. Unfortunately, we aren’t here for a good reason.”

Richard finally got all the files he wanted and sent them over to the large screen mounted on the wall. “At about midnight activity picked up on Blue Tide’s server, and I decided to have a closer look at the sudden peak. As we were scrolling through the chatter, we discovered a few things have transpired over the past few days – and they’ve attempted to bury it pretty deep in their network.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Hank said while wandering over to the monitor, Gavin and Connor right next to him.

“It’s not,” Gavin told them as Richard brought up several windows of messages. “Blue Tide have purchased a warehouse on the southern outskirts under the alias of a human renovations group. Not only that, but they’re talking about launching an attack on the anti-android march in three weeks. From the chat going on about potential weapons purchases and possible strike locations, they’re planning to make it a massacre.”

“Fuck,” Hank swore while reading through the six screens of chat. “Anything standing out that we can use to prevent the attack itself?”

Richard shook his head from the desk as he too walked over. “Unfortunately not. Thus far nothing seems to be set in stone, they are still trying to come up a concrete plan. It’s scattered across multiple streams and they are all speaking in code. Unscrambling it could take some time, and I’m not sure we have it,” he admitted. “Connor and I’s combined processing power could probably work out whatever system they are using with a few months, but just three weeks is pushing it.”

“If we’re going to finalise a plan of our own to stand against them, we really need about a week ourselves to get anything into place,” Gavin sighed. “Could you two work out what they’re up to in that time?”

“Honestly, no,” Connor said despondently. “I’d suggest bringing in Markus and Jericho, their efforts might be enough.”

“Markus has been trying to stay on the down low recently, Con, are you sure you want to draft him in? What if word gets out that he’s been involved?” Hank pointed out.

Huh, that was an interesting bit of information. Why would Markus be lying low? Connor was about to answer his own question, though he didn’t realise it until after he allowed the auto-pilot to take over. “Markus is trying to allow more space so that it gets the point across that the androids are bigger than just him. He’s still more than willing to help if we need him, and a potential assault on a human march by a group of extremist androids is something that he _will_ want to be involved with.”

Hank stared at him for a second before giving a strong nod. “All right. Con, Richard, get in contact with Markus and see what help he can offer, we’ll take whatever we can get. Gavin, see whether any of our other friends are willing to allow us to cash in a favour or two: we’re going to need some extra bodies to clear all our other cases we’ve got going on so we can dedicate everything to this. We’ll bring Chris and Ben up to speed once they get in.”

He began marching over to his desk when Gavin’s voice stopped him. “Hank!” The older man turned to face him. “What about if the DPD start sniffing around? What do you want to tell them?”

Connor was surprised with the venom which Hank spat his next response. “Tell ‘em whatever bullshit you need to so they don’t get in our way! They’re not going to fuck this up like everything else they do!”

“There will be thousands of people at the march, either taking part or spectating. We can’t just sit on the knowledge that so many lives could be at risk,” Richard told him pointedly. “At the very least we need to leave them an anonymous tip so that they can increase patrols on the day to reduce the risk to the public.”

Hank’s eyes were still blazing, so Connor came over to leave a placating hand on his shoulder. There was real fury in Hank’s eyes, something that Connor wondered about the history of before it got snuffed out in an instant. After giving a sharp nod, Hank turned away. “We tell them with five days to go, no more. If we can solve this ourselves, we’re going to. There’s too much at stake to risk those assholes screwing it all up.” He came to a stop at the edge of his desk and leaned over it heavily, the weight of the world seemingly on his shoulders. It made Connor’s heart ache to see it.

Gavin nudged Richard subtly from behind Connor. “Come on Rich, we need to get to work. There’s a lot of that shit to sort through.”

As the pair moved back to their desks, Connor came up to rest his hand on Hank’s back. He could feel the tension rippling through his body just from that one touch, and it was strange to see how their roles had reversed from only an hour ago. Connor tugged on Hank’s arm lightly, wondering if his husband would let himself be led away. It turned out that all of Hank’s fight was pretty much gone, and he let Connor pull him into one of the more private interview rooms.

Once they were out of sight, Connor pulled Hank down into a long, slow kiss. Hank threw himself into it willingly, evidently drawing as much comfort from Connor as the android was seeking in him. They stayed locked together for a while, before Hank suddenly pulled away and brought Connor into a crushing hug.

“I’m scared, Con.” The admission had Connor’s circuits tightening in a reflection of his own fear. “If we don’t stop this attack it could undo so much, and I can’t lose this. I can’t lose _you_.”

Connor’s arms wrapped around Hank fiercer. “We won’t lose this, Hank. Whatever happens, we’ll face the day after it together. There are friends out there that will help us bring this group to a heel, and then we can get back to our lives. I, for one, am quite eager to pick out where we are next going on a holiday,” he finished with a smile.

Hank chuckled. “Barely back from the trip of a lifetime and you want to head away again. Something you’re trying to tell me here, baby?”

“Just that I enjoy spending time with you, and I’d happily do it for the rest of our lives,” Connor told him earnestly, eyes full of love.

“Well good, cause that’s kind of what you signed up for with this,” Hank teased while running his finger along Connor’s wedding band. The android giggled in reply, to which Hank brought him in for another kiss before hugging him once more. “I love you, Connor.”

Connor’s pump jumped at hearing the emotion in Hank’s voice. “I love you too, Hank,” he replied with just as much feeling. And he’d never felt something as strongly as the love he bore for the man in his arms at that moment.

Everything started fading out again and Connor breathed in sharply, desperately trying to cling to Hank before he slipped back into the nightmare waiting for him. He needed to remember this, to believe in this reality. If he didn’t…

Then Connor was worried his sanity might snap.

_If rA9 is real, I beg you… **Please** , let this be my home._

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 58%**  
**CONTINUAL USE WILL RESULT IN TERMINAL FAILURE**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate Sequence *2M4X4I*2I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X1V3I*1I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 61% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't normally so emotional smut, so I hope this came out okay. Poor Connor so badly wants this reality to be real...do you guys think this is his home?


	9. War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Quick Update** : We have more of the amazing Kai's artwork to share, this time of War Connor! It's amazing and I love it, thank you so much Kai!
> 
> Back to this nightmare again, and you're in for a couple of surprises in this chapter. Just warning you now.
> 
> **Trigger warnings for this chapter:** Android gore.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 58%**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 61% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!**  
**SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

It was strange how you could learn to avoid things, even if they were staring you in plain sight. Connor had seemingly trained himself to ignore that warning message, despite it being a glaring reminder in his vision every time he came back online. His focus was instead on the phantom feelings of holding Hank in his arms, of that tangible love between them in such a raw moment.

Connor’s eyes fell to his covered hands, glaring hatefully at the missing ring on his left one. He refused to accept that this reality was nothing more than a horrific nightmare, a warning of what could happen in a world where androids and human went to war.

But there were so many questions that needed resolving here. Time to start looking for those answers.

He’d been so ensnared by the vortex of emotions the last time he and Hank had been together that Connor had forgotten to check through and see if he had any more unlocked memories. Now that he had a moment – the room he was in was surrounded by lots of monitors and equipment, but no other androids – he turned his focus on trying to remember.

It was a chaotic jumble, but there were images there. Some corrupted, others layered in so much static that Connor couldn’t make out more than outlines of people, and even they were so fragmented that he couldn’t ascertain who they were. Others seemed to be meshing into one another, but a few were now coming through crystal clear. Specifically, everything that was happening in between his visits to each timeline.

_Finally_ , he could start piecing this mystery together.

Where he was a DPD detective, Connor could now uncover everything that he’d learned about the murder of Michelle. Except the thought of what might have been in that timeline meant that he couldn’t bear to look through it all right now. Not until he knew either way if Hank and Fowler had survived the shootout at the house. If they hadn’t…then Connor didn’t know what he was going to do.

His focus then went to where he was a private detective, where he and Hank were married. So much in that timeline was different, but it was clearly not that distant from the DPD one. After all, in the photos he’d seen at their apartment, Sumo was there at one point or another. Though the fact that Hank had always looked different – hair cut shorter, took better care of himself - made Connor think that maybe the tragedy with Cole had never happened. Or maybe he’d just coped with it differently, rather than turning to alcohol?

And his relationships with everyone were so strange, compared to what he knew before. In the DPD timeline, he was at least friendly with Chris and found Ben to be interesting, while he just about got on with Gavin and the RK900 had only newly appeared. He hadn’t even picked a name. Where he and Hank were married, all of them were much closer – to the point where not only had Gavin and Richard been his and Hank’s best men, but they were about to do the same in reverse. Relationships like those were something that Connor was desperate to hold on to and cherish.

_Yet…_

Even in this world of horrors, Connor could feel that he had forged similarly fierce friendships. With Nines and North, maybe even more androids beyond that, but Nines was the one that Connor was focusing on. He was the one fixture across all three realities – a presence in his life regardless of the situation, even if all three versions of him seemed to vary wildly.

Or at least the differences between Richard and Nines were drastic. Richard seemed relatively gentle if mildly intimidating. Nines was a ruthless machine who didn’t hesitate to go for the kill. One version devoted to humanity, the other hell bent on destroying it.

Exactly as Connor himself was, it seemed – were it not for the fact that he’d spared Tina, someone who he had clearly caused untold pain to.

_What could have caused me to hate humans so much, when I am in love with one?_

He had to find out what happened to Hank here. The only reason Connor could see that would lead him to being a driving force in the war against the humans, was if he’d never met Hank at all. If Connor had not been exposed to the man’s weathered view of the world and renewed hope in life himself after the android revolution to use as a guide…

With a shaking hand, Connor removed the glove from his good hand and interfaced with one of the monitors on the table in front of him, searching for any information about Hank. As terrified as he was to learn that Hank might be dead here, he needed to know either way.

The results had Connor reeling back in shock.

**ANDERSON, HANK.**  
**BORN: SEPTEMBER 6 TH1985.**  
**LAST KNOWN SIGHTING: FEBRUARY 25 TH2044.**  
**MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD.**

_Missing? How can Hank be **missing**? If he’s presumed dead then it means that he’s been gone for a long time, or they suspect someone to have killed him…_

That wasn’t all that caught Connor’s attention though – Hank had gone missing in 2042, that put this timeline a lot later than the DPD one. So Connor had to be at least that far in date, if not a good chunk past it. He needed some way to learn _when_ he was-

A splitting pain ripped through Connor’s head as he tried to dig any deeper into the database, and he screamed in frustration. Whatever was going on, it was stopping him from learning more than he was meant to. “What do you want from me?!” he bellowed, breathing heavily as he stared down at his white hand. Twitching from his other arm had Connor staring over at it hatefully, and he ripped off the rubberised sleeve to stare at his mangled limb.

His eyes lingered over all of the dead wires and destroyed frame, and his mind wandered back to what he’d said to North the last time he was here. He’d said that she knew why he didn’t replace the wrecked limb he still bore…did that mean it tied into how the war started? How Connor came to hate humans?

Rage, pain, betrayal…the violent echoes of those emotions came to him as he stared at the old bullet wounds among the mangled plastic, the same as they had before when he thought of Hank when he faced down Tina.

His pump seized.

_No, oh no…_

Tina said she’d been after him for years, and her agonised screams still rang through his mind. **_Don’t have the guts to pull the trigger on me despite the thousands you’ve killed? Is that what you did to them too?! I’ve hunted you for years to get that answer, and now you taunt me all the more by leaving me here?! Just fucking tell me what you did to them!_**

Connor’s eyes drifted back to the monitor in horror. He suddenly had the terrible feeling that he knew at least one person of who Tina referenced…and that he’d been directly involved in Hank’s disappearance in this world – if not more.

Betrayal…

_Did I-Did something happen between Hank and I here? Oh fuck no, don’t tell me that- No, I **can’t** have done that to him, I **can’t!**_

Voices came from further down the corridor, and Connor quickly brushed aside the results of his search. He’d have to try and find the answers to that later, he could guess from all his experience of jumping around now that he was meant to see whatever was coming next. Though he was now scared to keep looking. He had the feeling that whatever the truth was in this world…it had the potential to break his heart.

The door behind him opened, and Connor turned to see North and Nines stride in. Clearly they’d been in another firefight very recently, because North was coated in blue blood down her right hand side, while there was some damage which was healing on her right shoulder. Nines’ abdomen was sparking and he had a noticeable limp, though he was determinedly marching towards the other side of the room. Connor’s eyes followed his every step.

“Here.” Connor felt when North gave him the repair kit which she always carried on her back. “The stubborn bastard won’t let anyone but you touch him, make sure he doesn’t shut down on us,” she told him sharply, but Connor could see the guilt in her gaze. When North tried to move away, he took a gentle hold of her undamaged arm. She couldn’t meet Connor’s eyes, keeping her own locked on the floor. “I know the bastard’s got a death wish, but that doesn’t mean he should be throwing himself in front of a shitstorm of bullets to save my ass.”

North snapped her arm away and stalked away to a far corner, obviously distraught about what had almost happened. Connor could now guess that most of the blue blood covering her was Nines’, and it only added to Connor’s questions about the RK900. He took the repair kit and knelt down in front of Nines, seeing the multitude of bullet wounds to his stomach, leg and chest.

In all honesty, he didn’t know how Nines was still functioning. That much damage would destroy any android – until Connor remembered what he’d seen of the RK900 schematics in the DPD timeline. He was built to withstand an assault like this and keep going – the first, and only, exclusively intended combat android.

What a blessing it was at this moment.

Connor sighed while opening up the repair kit, Nines not fighting him as he set about removing all the bullets still inside the other RK. He noticed Nines’ hand shift to white and land upon Connor’s mangled arm, forgetting that he hadn’t replacing the protective sleeve. Nines’ voice was apologetic, but firm in his mind through their connection.

**_I knew what I was doing, Connor._ **

_And that is meant to make me any less mad at you? You could have been killed, Nines!_

**_But I wasn’t, I’d calculated the chances of North’s survival at 71% with my aid, while it was only 14% without. An acceptable risk._ **

_Except I fucking know you, what were your own chances?_

Nines was silent for a few seconds and Connor’s temper flared in a commanding tone that he’d not realised he possessed until then.

_Answer me, Nines!_

**_34% chance of termination, 82% chance of permanent damage._ **

_That was more than a third chance of you dying, you fucking idiot! I can’t-Fuck…Nines I can’t lose you. I know North matters too, but we’re all aware of the risks in this war._

What Connor wasn’t expecting, was for Nines to snap his chin up sharply, only to see the steely eyes of the RK900 glaring at him.

**_And yet you would not have hesitated to do the same as me, were you in that exact situation. How can it be right for you to throw yourself into that danger, when you lecture me for it?_ **

_It’s not the same and you know it. I’m a dead man walking, have been for a long time._

**_As am I._ **

Internally, Connor reeled at the conversation. Clearly neither of them cared much for their own lives here, but there was one thing standing out beyond all the rest.

_Dead man walking…Am I- Is there some form of permanent damage ticking down as a timer here?_

His focus instantly drifted to the error message which he had been minimising throughout all his looping between realities, and it suddenly hit him in a different way.

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

No, that couldn’t be right. He was seeing that message in all three realities. _That_ was his one constant.

Connor could have smacked himself. The answer had been staring him in the face all along! He needed to figure out what was triggering that error message, it had to be tied in to what was causing him to loop between these three realities. Once he figured that out, he would be that much closer to learning the truth.

Learning which (if any) of these realities were real.

He prayed it was the one where he was married to Hank. Connor wasn’t sure he could take it if that was nothing more than fictitious.

While Connor was still working on pulling bullets free from Nines’ body, the monitors at the side of the room started bleeping. North’s eyes widened from the other side of the room and she scrambled across to the monitor that Connor had been using before, interfacing with it at top speed. “Fucking hell, this better have worked,” she hissed out angrily. “If we almost all died today for nothing…”

Connor’s mind drifted back through the most recent memories of this reality and North’s statement suddenly made sense – they’d been assaulting a remote satellite uplink that the humans had set up on the north side of the city, attempting to hijack it to break through the siege which had enveloped them. One set of androids had been doing that while another group went for the jamming technology that the humans had erected just outside of New York, a desperate play to block the androids from communicating with their brethren beyond the city. It had been successful thus far.

But no longer. Markus, Simon and Josh came into view, though the picture was incredibly grainy. With android technology that shouldn’t be possible, which meant that the team responsible for the jammer hadn’t made it through cleanly. Connor and Nines shared a heavy look, knowing what that almost certainly meant.

North was oblivious to them, and Connor could honestly say he’d never seen her so excited. Her whole face lit up at seeing the other three, and Connor’s pump stuttered when he say tears in her eyes. “Oh fuck…you have no idea how good it is to see you three,” she stuttered, and the expressions of the other three were similarly choked up.

**_“It’s good to see you too, North,”_** Markus replied with a heavy smile, but his eyes drifted to the other two occupants of the room. **_“Connor, are you patching up Nines?”_**

“Yes, he threw himself into danger, unsurprisingly,” Connor chastened, though the expression in his eyes softened, “but it meant North came back to us mostly unscathed. The damage will take some time to heal but he’ll be fine with the right repairs. It looks worse than it is.” Nines gave Connor a grateful expression, to which the RK800 left a hand on his friend’s shoulder before walking over to stand beside North. His eyes took in the other three, and he was surprised by what he found.

The war had clearly taken a grave toll on them as well. Markus was missing his right arm and it could be seen that he was being propped up by Simon, the blonde-haired android’s face permanently scarred by some form of shrapnel. Josh was in the most alarming state of the others, his skin flickering in and out of existence to show the horrifying mess of sparking wires and mangled plates beneath.

North flinched when the skin turned off entirely. “Looks like you three are in about as bad shape as us,” she said sombrely.

_“Well, I wouldn’t say that,”_ Simon told her lightly. _“We’re a little rough around the edges, but we’ve finally seized control of Detroit entirely. It makes all of this worth it.”_

Connor and North shared a look of disbelief. “You did it, you’ve got the whole city?” Connor asked in disbelief.

**_“The last of the humans left just over five months ago. We’ve had a few military attacks and militias attempt to fight back, but now that we have the old CyberLife factory under out control we can do so much more. Repair our own people, build new ones, come up with advanced defences…the humans won’t retake the city in a hurry,_** ” Josh told them with a small smile. Seeing how the others started at Markus’ state of disrepair, he went on. **_“ Markus looks a lot worse than he is. He took a lot of damage during some late battles here and we need RK specific schematics to rebuild him. Now that we’ve managed to re-establish contact with you three, we can do that from Connor or Nines’ own blueprints.”_**

Without prompting, Connor interfaced with the monitor and sent his specifications down the line to the others. Markus smiled at seeing the data package, as did Simon on the video fee. “That’s amazing news! I wish we had anything that good to report here,” North admitted, looking down despondently.

**_“How are things with you? We haven’t heard from all of you in over a year. It’s…”_** Markus was clearly quite emotional to see them, “ ** _been a long time.”_**

“It has been,” Connor said back with the faintest smile. “I’d love to say that we’ve made anything like the same progress you all have, but things are quiet dire here. This war is at a complete stalemate, and both sides are starting to break down from the siege on the city. There needs to be an outside intervention or everything here is going to die out,” he admitted.

“Our supply of blue blood will last us another two weeks at best, and we’re out of all replaceable parts. We’re having to cannibalise the dead to just keep those left of us going,” Nines shouted from behind, his voice grave. They could all see how troubled the other trio were by the news.

**_“Well, now that we have control of Detroit, we can maybe help you. Our other factions in Seattle and Los Angeles have made good progress on gaining a foothold, and with it we’ve managed to hack into several military servers. With that data we should be able to find anything and everything you all need. Send us a list of all that you require, and give us a week to organise a convoy. Do you think you can punch enough of a hole through the barricade at the city walls to give us a clean run in?”_** Markus asked as Josh moved away off screen.

“We can arrange a window without giving the humans time to intervene,” Connor confirmed. “There’s no guarantee that we can keep a line of communication open, so we need to work out the location and date of the rendezvous now. Markus, you’ll need to make sure that the humans don’t follow you, they’re all skilled in subterfuge warfare after fighting us in the dark for so long.”

_“Don’t worry, Connor, we’ll get you everything you need,”_ Simon reassured. _“How about more people?”_

Connor paused before answering them. “This place is a mass grave, I wouldn’t ask for anyone to join it,” he told them honestly. “But, if people want to volunteer themselves, I will never turn them away.”

Markus and Simon shared a look. **_“We’ll get the word out, see who is willing to help you. Everyone wonders about all of you, if you’re still fighting inside that bubble. You have no idea how relieving it is to see that you’re all alive.”_**

“We’ll win this fight, Markus,” Nines called over. “Failure isn’t an option here.”

“Nines is right,” North added. “You sent us with Connor because he wanted the most ruthless androids you had to take over New York from scratch. After seeing and living through so much…” her eyes flitted from Nines, to Connor, and then back to the screen, “we aren’t going to lose now.”

Their assurances left Connor very emotional. The depth of loyalty shown was incredibly moving, and it struck a chord inside him. Almost like an echo of another connection... “If you bring us the help we need, we’ll take the city,” Connor told Markus strongly, and the determination which built through him was shocking. “Like they said, failure is not something we are prepared for.”

And it was true – Connor realised for the first time that he was fully prepared to die to bring victory to the androids. Did his life really hold so little value to him now?

_Is that what I meant by ‘dead man walking’?_

**_“All right, but be safe; all of you. I want to see you all back by our sides for when we continue the fight beyond this battle,”_** Markus said with a stern look.

“We’ve held out this long, we can last a little more,” North replied with a smirk.

Connor rolled his eyes. “Stand by for an upload of all we are looking for, Markus. It won’t take long.” With that, the link broke for the time being.

North gave Connor a broad smile, and there was a noticeable bounce in her posture. “Fuck, it was good to see them,” she sighed happily. “You want me to get on that list?”

“Please do, and take Nines with you to make sure he gets a top up of blue blood and actually rests,” Connor instructed with a long look at Nines, who was suitably unimpressed. “We’ve got a few big days coming up if we want to make sure that Markus makes it through without the humans attempting to sabotage the rendezvous, we’ll all need to be at our best.”

“Then you’d better get that arm looked at again,” Nines fired back pointedly. “That’s the worst it’s been since it got fucked up.”

Connor glared back at him. “I will, stop mothering me.”

“I would if you took better care of yourself,” the RK900 snapped while standing. “I know I have little regard for my own life, but you can’t afford to have so few cares about your own, Connor. You’re our leader here, we need you. Get yourself fixed, or this is all going to fall apart.” With that, Nines stormed off.

A low whistle came from North after he had gone. “Wow, sometimes you forget that he actually does have emotions. Strange how it can appear out of nowhere.” Her focus then turned to Connor. “He’s right, though. You aren’t taking care of your body and it’s showing. This effort to break the siege is probably going to take everyone we’ve got left, and I know you’ll be the one out there leading the charge.” North stopped when she saw Connor’s stare turn icy. “Just some friendly advice is all. I’ll be back in a bit with that list.”

She left with that comment, and Connor was unsurprised when the static started clouding his vision again. He’d known as soon as that conversation was over what he’d been meant to see. The help coming from the androids, that was what he going to drop in to next in this reality, he was sure of it.

Another loop was about to start, and he was finally past his confusion, it was time to get answers.

Connor surrendered to the oncoming darkness willingly. He was ready to face what was coming next.

* * *

The Zen Garden was different again, and Connor was beginning to wonder whether this ever changing weather was a mirror of his own emotions and turmoil. When he’d first come here, it had still been in the depths of winter. Last time, everything had been ensnared in that dense and oppressing fog. Now?

Now he was staring at a dying sunset, a glimmer of light before the darkness closed in once more.

Cold and icy confusion, lost in the fog of a mystery consuming him, followed by a spark of light and hope amongst everything else.

Yep, this weather had to be a reflection of his inner turmoil.

His eyes darted around the area and this time he found the mystery woman sitting on a bench beneath the tree at the centre of the lake. Connor was wary of what riddles she would speak this time, but he was surprised when he approached her. Rather than the indifferent hostility of before, there was a certain warmth to her eyes and expression.

That was a curious change.

“Sit with me, Connor,” she beckoned with a soft voice. “Enjoy the peace.”

Warily, Connor did take a seat next her. His eyes followed out across the water, just like her gaze did, and with it he did feel a sense of calm for once. Ever since this whole mess had started, he’d not had a chance to truly sit and just…have a moment to himself. He may not be alone, but her presence was far from intimidating now.

“The quiet here is nice; it’s somewhere that affords you time to think, to reflect.” She sighed before going on. “It may not have been its intended purpose, but can see why CyberLife gave this place to you, it’s truly soothing. Now that I’ve seen it like this, I can see why you kept it.”

Connor’s eyes turned towards her, and now that he looked at her he could feel something stirring. He _knew_ her, but he didn’t know how that could be true when he had no idea about her name or who she was. “Why do I have the feeling that you are someone I should know?” he asked slowly, watching to see her facial reactions.

She gave little away, continuing to stare out over the lake. “I’m curious as to what gave you that impression,” she said very carefully.

“I guess you could call it the android equivalent of gut instinct,” Connor replied honestly, to which she snorted in surprised laughter.

“You really are a marvel, Connor. I didn’t realise quite how much until I watched you work through every sequence of events and tried to puzzle it out.” Her eyes finally turned towards him. “It’s just a shame that this is how we should have finally met.”

That caught Connor off-guard. “Wait…you know me, but I don’t know you?”

“A lot of people know of you, Connor,” she pointed out. “You are infamous for your role in the revolution after all. That’s not a mantle you could ever hope to shake.” Connor was surprised when she abruptly stood from the bench and began to walk away, but he wasn’t about to let her leave that easily.

“Wait!” Much to his surprise she did pause, turning back to face him. “ _Why_ is this happening to me? I know you said people wanted answers, but how am I involved in this? How does any of this work into that?”

“You’ll find out very soon,” she told him slowly, and something in her tone caught Connor’s attention.

“Wait, does that mean…this is almost over? You’ve almost found what you’re searching for?”

She thought over her words carefully before answering him. “One way or another, it will be finished beyond this next loop.”

Connor didn’t like that answer. “How can you be so sure of that?” His head started to seize again and he collapsed to one knee, fighting to stay in the Garden for that little bit longer to get an answer of his own, finally.

He really regretted fighting with what he heard next, and didn’t have time to think on the repercussions before blacking out again.

“Because no matter what happens, you’ll be dead at the end of it.”

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 66%**  
**TERMINAL FAILURE APPROACHING**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

“Don’t let me down now, Connor. One last loop to finally end this…”

(Y)

_Terminate ZenGarden.exe  
_Initiate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*1V1I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

“Is this really going to work?”

“Everything depends on whether Connor lasts that long. It’s a race against the clock now.”

**SYSTEM RESTORE 72% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!**  
**SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well, what do you guys think of that final line in the Zen Garden? Idle threat or promise?
> 
> Final loop is coming up: and I'd buckle in. It's going to get **rough**.


	10. United

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the last line there, but we're now into the final loop around the realities. Are you guys any closer to realising the truth? If you are, you're doing better than Connor.
> 
> So, you had all been left on a cliffhanger from the last time we were here. Time to see the aftermath.
> 
> In case any of you haven't seen, I've attached some artwork from the fabulous Kai of war Connor to the previous chapter, you can find the link to their Twitter at the start of the fic. Please feel free scream much love at them!

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 66%**

**WARNING!  
TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE APPROACHING**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 72% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

A knock from his left rapidly brought Connor out of his induced stasis. His eyes snapped open, only to be confronted with a room that he didn’t recognise. A quick survey of his surroundings that it was an unfamiliar apartment, which left him instantly on alert as to who could be at the front door. There was someone else in the lodgings with him, he could hear that from rustling beyond, what he presumed was, a bedroom door to the right.

Another, more insistent, knocking at the door snapped his attention back to it, and Connor stood warily to look out the peephole. Seeing who was on the other side, he let out a small sigh of relief and opened it. Gavin stood on the other side, dressed in a black suit and tie – Connor’s circuits tightened hard at the realisation of why he was appearing dressed like that.

**_No, it can’t-_ **

“How you holding up, dipshit?” Gavin asked lowly, keeping a respectful distance from Connor and looking at him with something akin to sympathy. Connor hoped with every fibre of his being that he was just being paranoid, that…

“As well as can he expected,” Connor replied quietly, looking out to the window. Gavin followed his gaze and sighed.

“What about Anderson? He said much since you two got set up here?”

Every wire in Connor’s body felt like it was sparking at Gavin’s words. That meant Hank was alive! But if Gavin was kitted out for a funeral, then who-

_Oh…_

Captain Fowler. Hank had survived, but Fowler didn’t.

In all honesty, Connor had known it to be a probability that Fowler would die, rather than just a possibility. His wounds had been severe, there would have been so many complications with his surgery and further treatment…That didn’t stop a pit of guilt bubbling up through Connor’s circuits. It was a selfish thought, but he was beyond relieved that if only one of them was meant to live, it had been Hank who did so.

“He’s…not coping very well,” Connor said slowly, his attention turning to the TV in the corner. A news report was broadcasting, but he wasn’t paying an awful lot of attention to it. “How would you feel after your home was torn apart by gunmen, were left badly wounded and saw survived when others didn’t?” he went on softly, his eyes falling instead to the bedroom that he was now sure was Hank’s. He could only imagine was Hank was thinking as they prepared for Fowler’s funeral.

“Really fucking angry, for starters. Beyond that…I dunno,” Gavin admitted. His gaze shifted to the television, and his eyes widened as he realised what was being shown. “Connor, can you turn the volume up on that?” Though surprised at the request, Connor obliged Gavin and turned his attention to the words now coming through loud and clear.

- ** _though protest groups are standing firm outside City Hall, in defiance of a warning to disperse. Since the Androids Rights Bill passed in what many are claiming as a rigged vote last week, protest numbers have been climbing._**

**_The Mayor’s office has thus far added no further statements following those given two days ago, instead pointing to the wider police investigation which is still ongoing: reminding the public that several people have lost their lives in what is now being labelled by the police department as a plot by an extremist terror group to destabilise the already fractious political climate in Detroit._ **

**_We can now confirm via a statement given by the Detroit Police Department this morning, that a shooting which took place on Michigan Drive and shocked local residents was tied to the scandal which has consumed City Hall. Details of the attack itself are still scarce with investigations continuing, but we have learned about those targeted during the assault._ **

**_Captain Jeffrey Fowler, Lieutenant Hank Anderson and the RK800 android detective known as Connor were all shot during the attack, but Captain Fowler was the only fatality. All three men are known names in Detroit, and the DPD issued a formal eulogy paying tribute to the police captain’s service today. The three men were the leads in an operation trying to identify those involved in the bombing which claimed the life of the Mayor’s android lover several months ago, and this attack has been seen by many as confirmation that the trio were close to uncovering those involved._ **

**_Sources within City Hall itself have told us that this revelation is what tipped the final vote for Android Rights, with many believing that the attacks have been an attempt to cause its failure. It’s formal introduction today is leading to increased division in the city, with the Mayor’s office, the Jericho android organisation and law enforcement all calling for calm. It seems to be a safe assumption that, whatever follows from here, the situation in Detroit could be even more unstable in the future._ **

“Fucking media stirring this up. Last thing we needed was for word to get out about the investigation,” Gavin snarled while grabbing the remote to turn the television off. “Now the whole group will go underground, we’ve lost them!”

“But the Bill did pass, so they failed in their ultimate aim,” Connor told him pointedly. “We’ll find them when they resurface, it is a certainty that they will after all this. I would suspect the agents in the Mayor’s office to have leaked the details to the media themselves. With so much scrutiny it makes a good excuse for them to vanish, while we are limited ourselves in what we can do. I, for one, am grateful for the extra time. It means that Hank can at least partially recover.”

Gavin sighed. “Yeah…I guess so.” His phone then chimed, to which the detective pulled it out to read. “900 says he’s on his way up with the new precinct captain, Martinez. Sounds like he wants to talk to you and Anderson before the funeral. You two wanting a ride over there?”

Connor smiled gratefully at Gavin and gave a small nod. “It would be appreciated, thank you.” Some quiet swearing from the bedroom had Connor looking over to it in mild concern, and even Gavin winced at the thumping he heard. “Gavin, I need to-”

“Yeah, go ahead, dipshit. I’ll keep an eye out for 900 and Martinez,” he said tightly, and Connor could see that Gavin really didn’t know what to do. He cast his mind into his memories, wondering as to the detective’s reactions and soon came up with an understanding as to how he was behaving.

Gavin and 900 had been the ones to find the group at Hank and Connor’s home. They’d both attempted CPR on the two men when their hearts had stopped before the paramedics arrived. 900 had managed to restart Hank’s heart with Connor’s help, but Gavin hadn’t managed to keep Fowler alive.

He bore the same guilt they all did for the man’s death, even if there was nothing that Gavin could have done.

Connor turned away from the silent and contemplative detective and knocked on the bedroom door, not wanting to alarm his partner. “Hank?” There was no shout back, so Connor took that as an indication that his entering wasn’t objected to. He slowly cracked the door open, and all his circuits tightened agonisingly when he saw the state of Hank.

Bandages were wrapped all the way up his torso, and even beneath them Connor could make out the raised lines of thick stitches from where Hank had to be operated on. There were crutches leaning up alongside the bed, and Connor could see from how Hank was sitting that his left leg still couldn’t bear weight properly. He was currently glaring hatefully down at said limb, as if it would somehow change anything. Hank’s skin was rather grey an sickly, and it was clear to see that he was far from his normal, powerful self.

If anything, Hank looked frighteningly fragile.

“I told you I could dress myself, Connor,” he bit out, but the words lacked any real fire to them. It was just…hopelessness, and Connor’s pump felt like it was being squeezed at seeing the slightly helpless look on Hank’s face.

“And I don’t doubt that, Hank,” Connor told him while kneeling down on the floor in front of him, watching carefully as Hank lightly panted from the exertion of his injuries, “but Gavin is here, and we have more company about to join us. 900 and the new precinct captain, Giles Martinez, are about to be here shortly. I am guessing you wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.”

Hank’s tired and fatigues eyes raised to meet Connor’s own, and the android couldn’t stop himself from placing a comforting hand on Hank’s knee. He’d at least managed to get his black slacks on, but the shirt and tie would be another beast entirely. “Please, let me help you,” he pleaded softly. “You aren’t alone this time.”

A small light came to Hank’s eyes at Connor’s words, and he nodded silently in acceptance of the android’s offer. Connor gave him a last reassuring squeeze before grabbing the tank top and shirt hanging up on the door of the nearby wardrobe. Hank was co-operative when Connor came back to his side, lifting his arms with a pained hiss as Connor helped slide the top on. After giving Hank a moment to breathe and get used to the shift of position, Connor stepped around to help slide Hank’s heaving bandaged arm and shoulder through the left arm of his shirt.

The pained flinches hurt for Connor to watch, and Hank caught the android himself jump to a worse lance of pain. Bringing up his good arm, he placed his hand on Connor’s forearm; even through the white shirt he wore, the touch was still oh so familiar and warm. It took a lot for Connor to remember that things were the same here, this wasn’t his husband. This was his partner – _work_ partner – even if he was almost convinced that the chemistry between them here was true. “I’m just whinging about my old body getting shot to pieces, you shouldn’t worry about me, Con,” he said quietly.

Connor let out a short and toneless laugh. “I thought you’d figured it out by now that I can’t help but worry about you, Hank,” he told the other man empathically. “If you manage to top Sumo in the list of most important things to me, then of course I’m going to be concerned at seeing you in such pain.”

Hank’s eyes widened at the admission, but Sumo soon sat up from where he’d been snoozing at the foot of Hank’s bed. The giant dog had barely left Hank’s side since he’d come back from the hospital three days ago, Connor could remember that now. He still didn’t understand how this jumping of realities worked with how he seemed to only recollect the snippets of time in between each of his visits here, and nothing before his first arrival in each version of himself. Though Connor was beginning to suspect that it was deliberate – a control mechanism to make sure he didn’t get distracted.

His pump stuttered as he recollected the woman’s words from when he had just been about to leave the Zen Garden, and the implication behind them.

**_“Because no matter what happens, you’ll be dead at the end of it.”_ **

That’s what she had said, did that mean this was Connor’s last chance to figure out the truth of his jumping around? He had to learn which reality was really his, and that meant he had to pay close attention to what was going on here this time. If it really was going to be his last visit here…he had to take in as much as he could.

Sumo trundled over and placed his head on Hank’s good leg, whining softly. The lieutenant chuckled while giving him a few strong pets. “You know, bud, I kinda need you to not be shedding all over these pants. White dog fur doesn’t really go with black.”

Connor snorted out a laugh, and it was only then that he noticed Hank’s hand had left his arm. He missed the warmth of it. In a slightly daring move, Connor stretched over and began to pat Sumo’s head too, testing his limits to see how far he could go.

Both Hank and Connor’s eyes widened when the android’s hand came to a rest right on top of Hank’s and stayed there, a comfort through all that they’d seen and been through recently. After staring at where they were joined for a few seconds, their gazes drifted to each other slowly, along with the realisation that something between them had changed.

A soft knock on the door broke the spell of the moment and they sprang apart, both a little dazed. “900 and Martinez are just coming up the stairs now. You got any coffee in here?” Gavin shouted through the door. What goddamn awful timing.

“Second cupboard above the sink, Gavin,” Connor called back. “There’s milk and sugar if you need them too.”

“Cool, thanks.”

They both heard him step away but the moment had passed, much to their shared regret. Connor instead helped Hank slip into his shirt with minimal hassle and fetching his black tie, which was lying in a roll on the bedside table. They didn’t say anything as Connor fashioned it into a centimetre perfect knot and allowed it to come to rest on Hank’s chest. Even through the two layers of clothing, Connor could still feel the bandages when he pressed his hand to Hank’s body.

“I don’t get it, Connor.” The android turned his eyes back to Hank’s face, where he could see that tears were barely being held back. “Why do I always survive? First Cole, now Jeffrey…Never mind all that time I spent playing Russian Roulette. So many times I should have met my maker, and yet I’m still here. Why am I the one who has to live and-” He choked on the final words, and it took a few seconds before Hank spoke again. “And carry the guilt.”

Seeing the agony on Hank’s face was too much for Connor, who crowded in close and wrapped his arms around Hank in a careful hug. He could feel Hank’s first instinct was to recoil, but eventually the older man relented and returned the gesture with his own arms tightly. “I like to think that it’s because you were meant to, Hank,” Connor reassured him.

Hank scoffed. “I thought you didn’t believe in a god, Connor. Android or otherwise.”

Huh, interesting. Connor’s own thoughts told him that statement wasn’t true, because he’d caught himself praying to rA9 several times throughout this.

Internally, he froze.

_Shit, wait- Does that mean…This **isn’t** my reality?_

“This isn’t about believing in a named deity, Hank,” Connor told him softly. “What I do believe in is a degree of fate. If it’s meant to be your time, then it will be – some of the stuff we’ve survived has no explanation otherwise.”

“Ha! How about sheer dumb luck?” Hank fired back sarcastically.

“No amount of luck could account for how many close shaves we’ve had and lived through. Hank…” Connor’s arms tightened around him. “But whatever reason there is for you still being here, I’m so thankful for it. I couldn’t bear to live without you.”

The sincerity in the statement clearly caught Hank off guard and he pulled back to stare Connor in the eye. Despite the intense gaze, Connor didn’t flinch: it was entirely true. Living without Hank was not something he was prepared to do, in this or any reality.

Connor could hear the front door of the apartment open and close again, which caused him to sigh dejectedly. “We have more guests,” he said solemnly, wishing the two of them had more time to just discuss. As it was, maybe their arrival was good timing. If Hank was to be strong enough to last through the funeral they were about to attend, he couldn’t afford to break down now. That would be something for later, when it was back to just the two of them.

Maybe then Hank could finally let all the walls come down.

With a final nod, Hank allowed Connor to straighten him up before the android passed him over the crutches. Hank placed it under his healing arm with a wince, but Connor knew better than to hover over him – the last thing Hank would want is to feel some of what little independence he had left be taken away from him.

Sumo led the way out of the bedroom first, with Hank slowly limping his way out behind. Connor followed them and closed the door behind him, before turning to face their new entrants. Seeing the RK900 in his former CyberLife uniform, after having become acquainted with both Richard and Nines, was a startling contrast from the relaxed, if sarcastic, detective and vicious soldier that he knew. Connor could only wonder just how much of his personality had come through in the relatively short time that Connor knew he’d been activated for.

There was one unfamiliar figure in the room, a rigid man in a black suit, just like Gavin, Connor, with short grey hair and a stern presence about him. Something about him just didn’t sit right with Connor, it all felt like too much a front. “Lieutenant, Detective,” he greeted with a low voice. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Giles Martinez, I’m the new Captain assigned to Central. I wish that my posting were under better circumstances.”

Hank stretched out to shake the offered hand, Connor only a second later. “Yeah, likewise,” Hank replied dully. “Means a lot to me that you’re turning up for the funeral today, shows good respect in my book.”

“Jeffrey Fowler was a good man, and you’d struggle to find a better officer out there. His death is a great shock and tragedy to all of us.” Martinez’s eyes softened a little. “I wish I was here simply for pleasantries, but I’m afraid I have to deliver some news to all of you.” The mood in the room rapidly shifted to something much more on edge. “I’m aware that all four of you have been involved in an investigation looking for moles within the DPD, officers who were responsible for the death of the Mayor’s lover in the bombing several months ago. It’s my duty to inform you that, as of today, you’ve all been relieved of those duties.”

Connor and Gavin’s eyes snapped together in surprise, and even 900’s posture betrayed an element of shock. Hank, however, was seething. “That’s utter bullshit! How can you reassign something so sensitive to a bunch of idiots who won’t give a damn?!”

“I apologise, Lieutenant, but it is out of my hands. You’re all too involved in this case now, especially yourselves,” Martinez went on which gesturing to Hank and Connor. “Victims cannot investigate their own crimes, and you all now full under that category or witnesses. For legalities’ sake, I must withdraw all of you and pass the details on to other officers.”

“Captain, with all due respect, I agree with the Lieutenant,” Connor stressed. “There are no other human-android combinations in the police force yet, to remove us from this case would send out the wrong message – regardless of the true intentions behind it. People will assume that it is due to 900 and I being androids as to the reason behind the reassignment.”

Martinez sighed. “I’m sorry, Connor, I really am. You all know how this goes: I’m going to have to ask you to turn over all the files you’ve accrued over the course of your investigations to Internal Affairs before they are redistributed. From today none of you will be allowed to contribute to it any further, but I can promise to keep you updated with all developments,” the man assured them. “I really wish that there had been a better time to approach all of you, but I’m being hounded about passing everything on. I’ll need to collect everything tomorrow.”

“Well, you’ll have all our shit already as part of the evidence of the shooting,” Hank snarled. “It was all lying right there for any bastards to see. Doesn’t matter about this whole damn investigation now, Martinez, all of these shit bags will have gone underground!” His voice was a fair bellow by the end of his statement, but the captain was unmoved.

“I’m sorry, Hank, but there’s nothing I can do. This is how it has to be.” No-one really knew what to do after that, so the captain nodded solemnly to the four of them. “I shall see you all at the funeral. Good day gentlemen, and I wish you a speedy recovery, Lieutenant.” With that, the man departed the apartment.

Hank was breathing hard, the anger rolling off him in waves as he stared daggers at the door which the other officer had just left. “This is bullshit,” Gavin sighed while running a hand through his hair. “The guy wanders in an just takes this whole thing off us? Bastard.”

“It is in accordance with DPD procedure, Detective,” 900 told him, which had Hank barking out an ugly laugh.

“You can toss that fucking DPD rulebook out the window, 900,” he spat. “For all we know, the rat bastards who are involved in all this just got a free pass to cause more carnage. Fuck!” Connor came to a stop next to Hank and placed a hand in the middle of his back, hoping to at least rein that rage in for now.

“Hank, there’s nothing we can do for today. Let’s just get through the funeral first, and then worry about how we’re going to resolve this later,” he told the other man with the softest tone he could, knowing that most of Hank’s anger was from grief. Once he was past the sharpest part of it, they could come up with a proper plan.

“Connor is correct, speculating right now is pointless. Captain Fowler’s funeral is in just over one hour, perhaps we should begin our journey across?” 900 suggested, to which Gavin scoffed.

“We humans can’t just switch off from crap like that, shitbird, not when it matters to us: and drop the robo-speak, would you? I thought we talked about this,” Gavin snipped before leaving the apartment with RK900 right behind him.

Their snappish conversation continued beyond into corridor, but Connor’s focus was on Hank. His partner was still vibrating with anger and Connor didn’t know how to help him. He’d never dealt with the death of someone truly close to him before – a dear friend or otherwise. As such, he was at a loss on what to do.

In the end, he wrapped Hank in another, if brief, hug. “I’m here, Hank, and I’m ready to be whatever you need me to be.”

Hank’s eyes seemed hollow again and he let out a bitter sigh as he spoke back into Connor’s shoulder. “Just be you today, Con. That’s what I really need.”

Connor smiled into Hank’s neck. That, he could do.

* * *

The funeral was a lot harder than Connor thought it would be. All the feelings of guilt came roaring back as he saw the Captain’s family weeping, and it was just as hard seeing many of the man’s friends react the same way. Hank had just about managed to hold himself together, grateful that his being shot meant that he got out of delivering a eulogy. His words were instead being passed on privately to Fowler’s wife and children, along with the offer to tell them as much as he could about the events that led to his death.

When the guns had sounded, Connor had noticed Hank’s composure start to waver and tapped his hand against Hank’s leg. He hadn’t expected Hank to take a hold of that hand subtly, or to thread their fingers together as they watched.

It had grounded both of them, it seemed, and they’d been reluctant to let go when the time came to move on.

As it was, Hank felt that he couldn’t stay in a room filled with so many grieving people. There were too many memories swirling in his head, and so he’d asked Connor to take him somewhere that they both needed to go. Connor hadn’t hesitated in doing as Hank wished.

That was how they found themselves back outside their former home, no longer a crime scene, but still torn apart by the firestorm of bullets. Connor’s pump ached as he stared at the shattered front window, realising just how fortunate the two of them had been to survive what easily added up to over a thousand bullets having been unleashed on their home.

He’d been left with some damage, but all of it repairable. Hank was currently badly injured, though he would also recover in time. Sumo had escaped unscathed, thankfully. Their little family was still in one piece.

_Family…_

Connor hadn’t really given it much thought before that moment, but Hank really was his family – even here, where they were just friends. Or were they anymore? After what had happened at the funeral, Connor really wasn’t so sure.

Hank started swearing as he struggled to get out of the car but Connor held back, knowing that Hank wanted to do this himself. He eventually made it out and hobbled up to stand beside Connor, the pair of them staring at the wreckage of their former home. “Staring at a bunch of riddled wood ain’t going to do our health any favours,” the lieutenant sighed before making his way inside, Connor right behind him.

The front door creaked open on its hinges, and the two of them couldn’t stop from staring at the remains. Almost everything was destroyed, but Connor’s eyes instantly landed on a small photo frame which was face down on the living room floor. He picked through the splintered wood and shards of glass which lay everywhere, crouching down to pull the frame upwards. A smile crossed Connor’s face as he saw that while the frame and glass in the front had been damaged, the picture within was still intact.

With that same smile still on his face, Connor walked back to Hank’s side and showed the other man what he had found. Hank’s eyes suddenly sparkled again as Connor gently pulled the photograph free and handed it to him, letting Hank hold one of the few things in his life he held precious. “You’ve still got him with you,” Connor told him softly, to which Hank’s composure finally went. The android guided him through to the bedroom to allow Hank to sit, rest and have some time while he began to search for anything else that could be retrieved.

He’d been at it for about fifteen minutes when Connor heard Hank call his name softly from the bedroom, to which Connor put down the small collections of vinyls, memorabilia and photographs that he’d managed to find. With the treasures safely stowed in a cardboard box, Connor walked back through to the bedroom and saw that Hank had shifted to lay on the bed, away from Connor since his right side was his good one. It was clear to see that Hank was staring at the photograph of Cole that Connor had found, tracing the edges of it softly.

Connor moved to lie down on the other side of the bed, keeping himself level with Hank as the other man kept his attention on the picture – he knew Hank would speak up when he was ready, it might just take some time. “You think he’s waiting for me, somewhere?” Hank asked Connor hoarsely.

They’d discussed what Connor thought about the afterlife before he woke up, but Connor doubted it had come up since. “Yes, I do,” Connor said softly. “I think all those you loved at some point are waiting for you, Hank. We all find our way home, no matter the challenges along the way. Back to where we are meant to be.”

Hank chuckled. “Jeez, a bit corny for you, Con.”

A small laugh rose out of Connor in turn. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that it’s true. Cole is waiting for you somewhere, Hank, and you’ll see him when you get there.” Connor’s eyes fell from where he was staring at the back of the photograph as he went on. “Though I know I’m being selfish in hoping that time is far from now.”

Surprised by the honest and ashamed tone, Hank put the photograph down and saw how Connor’s stare had fallen to the patterned duvet. His hand came to rest on Connor’s, taking a slow hold of it again. Connor’s eyes flitted up to meet Hank’s own at the gesture. “Well, you know what…For once, I might be inclined to have that wish myself. You said that you were grateful for whatever reason there might me for me still being here. Why, Con? I’m just an old man who’s outrun death a few too many times now.”

Answering that question was one of the easiest things Connor had ever done. “How could I not, Hank? You’ve done so much for me, shown me what it means to be alive. You were my first friend, the first person to believe in me. I remember how you fought to ensure I had a place at the DPD and would be treated with respect. You’re kind, thoughtful, brave, determined, selfless…Hank, how could you ever think that I would not miss you? You’re-” Connor wanted to say more, but he couldn’t. Of all the times for the stupid auto-pilot to kick in!

As it was, Hank must have realised what Connor was trying to convey. His hand tugged gently on Connor’s own, and the android realised that Hank wanted him closer. He allowed Hank to pull him across gently, doing his best not to agitate his wounds as his movements brought Connor to a stop. They were now only a couple of inches apart, and Connor could feel his pump pounding in his chest. He so badly wanted to reach across and kiss Hank…

But he didn’t have to. Hank’s hand let go of his own and cupped the back of Connor’s head, bringing him in to lock their lips together in a soft caress.

Connor’s sigh of instant relief was physical as well as mental, and he raised his own hands to cup Hank’s face. It was timid but oh so familiar, the taste and warmth of Hank’s mouth almost felt like coming home. Though technically it was his first kiss with this version of Hank, he was already completely and utterly in love with this man.

In any reality, Connor knew he loved Hank. That had to be a universal truth.

The two lay there lazily swapping kisses for a couple of minutes until Hank gently pulled away with a soft smile, his eyes bright for the first time since the shooting. “And there was me thinking that I was going crazy, falling for an android that looks like he belongs on a magazine cover. Turns out you’re just as mad as me if you’re into old farts.”

A light laugh escaped Connor and he pressed his forehead to Hank’s. “I’m more than just ‘into you’, Hank. And I think you know that.”

Hank’s smile was so earnest that Connor couldn’t help but mirror it. “Yeah, I do, Con. Fuck knows why, but I do.” He laughed softly. “I hope Cole doesn’t mind me sticking around for a little longer, cause I want to see what tomorrow looks like with you right here.”

“Right here in this bed or another one…?” Connor teased, earning an eye roll.

“All right, smart arse. We’re going on at least one date first before it gets to that stage.”

“And what stage would that be, Hank? Or do I at least get to kiss you until you can’t breathe, now?”

The smirk he got in response was well worth it. “You’re welcome to try, baby.”

Connor beamed as he locked lips with Hank again, the two of them battling for control of the kiss. He could have screamed when he felt his systems started to seize, he didn’t want to leave _now!_

But if this was his last memory of this reality, it was a perfect one.

Maybe this could be his home after all.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 73%**  
**SECONDARY PROCESSORS OVERLOADING**  
**SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS SHUTTING DOWN**  
**TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE APPROACHING**

“No, no, no…Come on, not now! Not when we’re this close!”

_Reboot Secondary Biocomponents  
_Reboot Secondary Processors

**WARNING!**  
**SECONDARY PROCESSORS CRITICALLY DAMAGED**  
**OVERRIDE UNSUCCESSFUL**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 77%**  
**TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT**

“Shit, I can’t stop this anymore! We’re running out of time!”

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*1V1I*  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X4I*2I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

“Please, Connor. Hold on just a little while longer…”

“I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

“None of us are, but we need to see what comes next. Everything rests on what we see from here, this is where we learn if all of this was worth it. It’s all or nothing now.”

“This won’t end with nothing. It can’t.”

“I hope you’re right.”

**SYSTEM RESTORE 85% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heed that final conversation. You've all been warned.


	11. Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to say much before this chapter, save for heed the tags above and the warnings that I'm about to give now. Both the Archive and personal tags.
> 
> And I'd maybe have a lot of tissues on standby. 
> 
> I'm sorry.
> 
> **Trigger Warnings for this chapter:** Graphic gang-related violence, chemical warfare, multiple character deaths (both on and off screen), grief and highly dubious moral decisions.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!ERROR DETECTED**  
**//!MIND PALACE DATA FLOW INTERRUPTED**  
**//!MEMORY ACCESS INHIBITED**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 77%**  
**//!SECONDARY PROCESSORS OFFLINE**  
**//!SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**

**WARNING!  
TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 85% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

“Hey, you okay, baby?”

Connor was a lot slower at coming back to himself this time, it felt like his processors were lagging a little. A quick self-check showed that they were fine, but seemed to be running something of high importance in the background. He tried to access the commands in operation, but got a shock at the returning message.

**ACCESS DENIED. PLEASE SEEK ADMINISTRATIVE PERMISSIONS.**

_Wait, I can’t look at what my own processors are doing? How does that-_

That was when it hit him – whatever was going on with his processors had to be tied to whatever was making him jump around. Finally, it felt like Connor was getting somewhere with this mystery.

Realising that Hank was still waiting for an answer next to him, Connor turned and gave him a small smile. “I’m fine, Hank. Just zoned for a second,” he said back softly.

Hank’s expression turned from concerned to understanding. “Yeah, gotta admit I’m struggling to keep my mind from straying back to the others. I just hope that the DPD actually comes through for fucking once and helps us stop whatever Blue Tide are planning.”

It was as Connor had suspected: he’d arrived back on the day of the anti-android march – the day that the anti-human group, Blue Tide, were going to launch a terrorist attack. He knew that they had to stop this, the fallout from their failure would be devastating for androids; not to mention Hank and Connor’s own personal situation. Gavin and Richard’s too, in fact. Never mind how many other human-android combinations there were bound to be now.

“Have they found anything?” Connor asked.

“I’m guessing from the silence on their end, nothing. Want to give them a call to check in before we take a closer look at this place?” After Connor nodded, Hank dialled Gavin on his phone. Connor patched himself into the line with minimal effort, but could already hear the clamour in the background.

**_“Couldn’t have picked a better time than this?!”_** he shouted in reply, to which Hank and Connor rolled their eyes.

“We’ve only just got here, asshole,” Hank sighed before refocusing. “How are things looking on your end?”

**_“This place is like a bucket of dynamite. It’s only gonna take one small spark for this to become a nightmare,”_** Gavin told them nervously. **_“Ben and Chris have headed further down the march route to see if they can link up with a few DPD allies down that way. Rich is on the opposite side of this street, scanning everyone he can. There’s literally thousands of people here, Hank.”_**

“Shit,” he swore under his breath. “All right, hold tight and try to blend in. How many androids down there?”

**_“Rich has found eleven so far, but it’s difficult to tell if they’re just brave bystanders or Blue Tide members. No weapons so far, but they might not have any on them for now.”_ **

“Or Blue Tide hasn’t moved into position yet. How far away are the protestors?” Hank went on as Connor’s eyes went back to the warehouse which was just visible over a grassy verge. Simply staring at it gave him a bad feeling, something he’d not experienced before – or at least certainly not to this degree. He’d had the odd discomfort while looking at something before, but never on this scale.

_Why?_

“Con, you picking up any movement in there?” The question was a little surprising, but only because Connor had gotten so lost in his own concern. On the outside, there was definitely nothing to see.

“No, I’m not getting anything,” he confirmed with a frustrated noise. “It looks like we’ve missed them.”

“That means they’re either at the march already, or they’re en route.” Hank’s focus switched over to their companion still on the line. “Gavin, we’re gonna do a little recon, looks like we’ve missed our window with Blue Tide. If we find anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

**_“Read you loud and clear, but I’d maybe suggest Connor gets a hold of Richard instead. At least those two don’t need to rely on fucking phone signal.”_ **

“All right, good luck, Gavin.”

**_“Same to you, Hank. See you two for the round that Ben’s owe us all tonight.”_ **

“Hah! That one’s gonna cost him, I think we’re all going straight for the good stuff.” Hank smiled ruefully. “Look after yourselves.”

**_“You too.”_ **

The call disconnected and Hank stowed his phone away again, hissing as he did so. “Goddammit, should have known that wearing this coat with the vest wasn’t going to work,” he grumbled.

Connor raised an eyebrow at his husband. “I did warn you that it was the wrong coat to wear with a bulletproof vest, Hank.”

“I swear this thing shrank in the wash or something…”

Entirely endeared by such an innocent gripe, Connor leant over and kissed Hank’s cheek. “I know the saying goes that ‘the wife is always right’, but I feel it may also apply to the android here,” he teased with a wink.

Hank snorted in laughter. “All right you sassy little shit. Just for that, I’m not going to treat you to that new vibrating glove that I was going to try out on you this evening.”

Connor’s eyes widened. “Vibrating glove?”

“Nope, you lost out on that already, sweetheart. Tough shit.”

“ _Haaaaank…”_

“Nice try, Con, but I’m immune to your puppy dog eyes by now. You might have a little more luck after we’ve done this little op.” Connor was still sulking, to which Hank chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Come on baby, let’s see what we can find in this place to tell the others. They’re going to need all the help they can get.”

With Hank in the lead, the two of them advanced on the warehouse. It gave Connor enough time to quickly skim through the three weeks of memories that would now be there, hoping for some sort of clue as to what might be ahead. From what he’d heard thus far, however, he knew it was a faint hope. It seemed all of them were going into this situation blind, just as they feared they might be when he was last here.

Lots of late nights and early mornings working, but no conclusive evidence as to what the group were up to. It had sounded like the warehouse was going to be used as a staging area from the chatter they had picked up though, so seeing it this deserted was…

Wrong. Why weren’t there more androids here?

The two of them managed to get all the way to the outside of the building without any sort of issue, and even then it seemed that there wasn’t a soul around the whole place. Hank signalled for Connor to run a scan of the area, which he managed to do without any significant pain. Maybe that function was under his control again?

Nope, the second he tried to scan something else his head started splitting in a headache. So he was meant to have the scanners available, but it must be for a specific sequence of events.

Connor hated how little control he had of his own destiny here. Every circuit in his body was screaming for him to turn back, to leave. He didn’t know why.

But they couldn’t, not with so many lives on the line. The warehouse had already been ditched for the group to move on with their main plan anyway, so there should be minimal danger here. In theory anyway.

With their guns raised, Hank led the way as they slipped in through a broken panel of the warehouse wall. Connor was right on his six, keeping a close eye out for any sort of movement as they carefully picked their way through the strewn debris. It impressed Connor just how careful Hank was being in not to make a sound, but it made for slow progress. Balancing their need to find information for their companions and making sure not draw attention to themselves was difficult.

After a few minutes of picking their way through corridors, Connor finally saw something on his scanners. He froze mid step, and Hank instantly picked up on it. Spying Connor’s wide-eyed look, Hank started pointing with his hand to for an indicator of where to go. Rather than tell him, Connor took the lead instead – even if he wasn’t sure that he was braced for this…

In an old office, both Connor and Hank froze on the spot at seeing what lay inside. Dozens of android bodies piled up on top of one another, all dead and beyond any hopes of repair. Most had been attacked violently through the head, but all of them were missing several critical biocomponents that could have given Connor a clue as to how they died beyond what his reconstruction software was supplying him.

One thing was abundantly clear – whoever had killed all of these androids knew exactly what they were doing.

“Fuck…” Hank swore as he knelt down next to the mangled remains of a BL100, tilting her head up to see the damage done. “Jesus Christ, are Blue Tide murdering other androids who stumble across their operation? This is so messed up.”

Connor’s scanners locked on to the visible serial numbers of the androids nearest him, and he attempted to run a scan on their details. What he didn’t expect, was for his system to instantly flag the numbers as high priority.

His pump skipped a beat or two when the connection became abundantly clear, and the question behind it had Connor feeling terrified. “Hank…all these androids are members of Blue Tide,” he whispered in horror.

Hank’s stunned expression mirrored his own. “Wait, what? They’re killing their own people?”

“No, they’re all the android serial numbers that we knew were involved with the procurement of the warehouse itself. These two…” Connor pointed out a HR400 and a SQ800 at the far left of the pile, “are among the leaders that Richard and Gavin identified.” A thought struck him a moment later. “Hank, we managed to get into Blue Tide’s server through an android that disagreed with their motives, what if someone else did the same?”

“You mean another group got in and used the intel published to wipe them out? Fuck, what a mess…But there aren’t nearly enough androids here to make up those numbers.”

“There are 38 android bodies that I can identify here, and remains of at least 16 others. That puts it at about the number involved in the plot to attack the march.”

Hank was silent in thought as he stood again, surveying the bodies carefully. “So someone took out this wing of Blue Tide to stop the attack today? I don’t get it. You’d have thought someone would out the whole group for what they were planning if that was the case.”

The two of them froze as something else occurred to them, eyes meeting in a panicked gaze. “Hank, what if the reason they haven’t told anyone about what has happened here is if they want to keep this quiet? What if they-”

“Are taking their place. _Shit._ Con, get in touch with Richard, this just got a hell of a lot more serious.”

Connor attempted to do so, but he instantly flinched at the screeching feedback he got. “It’s no good, Hank, I’m being jammed,” he bit out through a hiss.

“Jammed? Fuck, no wonder no-one else in Blue Tide knows that all this lot are offline then, they never managed to send a warning message out before they were killed. Come on sweetheart, we need to get the fuck out of here to get that message off.”

Hearing footsteps in the distance, Connor instantly dove towards Hank and the two took cover in the lower space of a half-collapsed desk. Only ten seconds later the door to the office opened up, with two men dragging through the bodies of two more dead androids. “You’d think these fuckers wouldn’t be here today of all days,” one of them grumbled while tossing his burden on top of the pile.

“Stop your whinging, we’re here to make sure nobody learns the truth and to take care of the clean-up, all right? You heard from the boss about the deployment?” the other snapped.

“Nope, but I am not happy that he left us with a whole damn containment vessel in the warehouse. Gives me the creeps just thinking that it’s here.”

“Oh for god’s sake, do you have any balls?! It’s not going to leak you big baby. Just shut up and let’s get back to clearing this place out before shit hits the fan.”

Connor and Hank shared a look at the conversation before nodding. The android slipped out stealthily and snatched one of the humans into a headlock and Hank pistol whipped the other. Both of them went down without much of a fight, and once they were unconscious on the floor Connor began scanning them. “You get anything off these assholes, baby?” Hank asked quietly, now hyper aware that they weren’t as alone in this place as he’d thought.

The results had Connor wondering if it was possible for androids to vomit. This was **_bad_**. “Hank, they’re human: known members of the anti-android group Crimson.”

Hank’s fist balled up in rage. “Son of a bitch! How the hell did they find out about this place and what Blue Tide were up to?”

“Probably just as we did, though the android who gave them the key to the network must not have known who they were. Given how easily we procured extra serial numbers for you, Gavin, Chris and Ben to infiltrate the server as well, there’s no reason to think that they could not have done the same thing. With all of Blue Tide communicating only online and not via face-to-face meetings, it makes them a lot more vulnerable to infiltration.”

“Shit,” Hank growled while looking down at the pair again. “What the hell are Crimson planning; hijacking this when their own members are marching today. Are they really going to kill some of their own to frame Blue Tide?”

“It’s the perfect opportunity – the evidence exists that Blue Tide intend to attack, and the warehouse has been purchased under their organisation name. The groundwork was already there.”

“Fuck, this is really bad, we need to tell the others that they’re looking for humans, not androids. Let’s get out of here, Con.”

Connor nodded back to him and scanned the immediate area for any company, leading Hank out of the office as they tried to find their way back towards how they came in to make a quick escape. There were a lot more heat signatures dotted around the vicinity and they were moving through the entire warehouse – including blocking their route. Not good at all, they were going to need to find another way. “Hank, they must have entered the building while we were investigating the androids, our exit is compromised.”

“Of fucking course it is…Okay, you get us out of here, sweetheart.”

It was suddenly terrifying to be creeping around the derelict warehouse now that they knew there was company. Before, it was intimidating what they might find. Now it was causing fear to course through Connor’s circuits: especially as he was the one who had to find them a way out through the maze of humans which were now buzzing about in activity. All the worse when Connor could see they were heavily armed. Hank had picked up on it himself, having seen how Connor’s grip tightened on his gun.

That sinking feeling was getting a lot worse, and Connor hated it.

They had advanced most of the way to the other side when Connor spied another group approaching where he’d marked as a safe exit, to which he swore quietly. He beckoned Hank to take some cover behind some crates and his husband did so without hesitation. Connor could see the tension on Hank’s face, he could only imagine what his own looked like.

In a bitter twist of luck, Connor spied on his HUD that another group of humans was coming from behind them, and they had very little option on where to go. If they attempted to cross the main floor of the warehouse, they’d definitely be seen and left to dodge a storm of bullets; but if they stayed, they’d be spotted and have to engage in a close quarters gunfight against seven humans. The odds of each scenario playing out favourably were horrendously low.

“Hank, we’re about to be pinned in,” Connor whispered to him. “We can attempt a break for the other side of the warehouse, but we’ll be wide open.”

The older man gave Connor a serious look. “What’s your software saying?”

“11.6% chance of no injury if we run for it, 10.9% if we stay.”

“Probably a good call in not telling me what the chances of a severe injury or death are, honey,” he tried to joke while looking back down where they’d come from. “How long we got until they spot us?”

“7 seconds, Hank.”

Hank gave Connor a nervous smile. “Better hope these old legs of mine have got enough left in them then. Go!”

They leapt to their feet and made a mad dash outwards, and only seconds later shouting went up as they were found. What gave this scenario better chances was how the two of them were increasing the distance between themselves and their attackers, and it would be growing as they got to their guns. The big downside was how they had almost no cover.

Bullets started flying past them as they sprinted across the floor, some clipping Connor in the arm and from the winces behind he was sure that Hank was being grazed too. Grazes were good through, and Hank had the added protection of the bulletproof vest. So long as it wasn’t something that hit him in the head or caught a major artery in either his arm or leg, he should be okay.

Connor was clinging to that as they raced across the floor, one bullet going right through his arm as they made it across and hurtled down a corridor towards where he could see another exit from his memory of the layout of the building. The damage as a result of the bullet made his circuits seize however.

Armour-piercing rounds. Shit, he should have realised that before from the damage to the androids – he’d been so surprised by the fact of who they’d all been that he hadn’t thought to analyse the wounds hard enough. That meant Hank’s vest was going to be worthless, he had no real protection.

Three humans appeared from the other end of the corridor and started shooting. Both of them were completely out in the open, and before Connor could return fire he felt himself be shoved through an open door on his left. Hank gasped and coughed as the two of them went tumbling to the floor, to which Connor leapt back to his feet and fired back around the corner. The trio retreated with shouts, surprised to come under fire themselves as Connor’s aim switched to a coolant pipe running along the ceiling.

It crumpled under the gunfire, the humans shouting could still be heard over the sudden spray of the burst pipe but Connor used the confusion to slam the door closed and viciously pull a large filing cabinet from the other side of the room across to jam access. That wouldn’t hold for long, but it gave them enough time to plan their next move.

“Hank, we don’t have much time we need to figure out another-”

Connor’s eyes searched for Hank, but it was only now that he realised Hank hadn’t got back to his feet. When Connor spied him, everything seemed to slow. Hank was dragging himself along the floor weakly, and Connor’s whole system froze at the thick trails of red along it. Blood. Hank was bleeding, and profusely at that.

His husband’s face was pale as he looked up at Connor, and the android saw how Hank’s left hand was dyed red as it covered a wound on his stomach. An instant scan showed that he’d been shot three times – once in the right leg, once in the abdomen and the final time right next to his heart.

Breath stuttering, Connor dropped his gun and collapsed to his husband’s side, tears welling in his eyes as he saw just how _fragile_ Hank looked. He’d pushed them both to safety, but Hank had taken three bullets for it. His scanners took a deeper look at the wounds, Connor needed to know how long he had to get Hank out and look for medical attention before-

**CHANCE OF SURVIVAL: 0%**

Everything in Connor’s world ground to a halt at those words appearing on his HUD.

**_No._ **

_No he’s not dying. Hank is **not** dying!_

**RUPTURED LEFT CORONARY ARTERY**  
**RUPTURED SPLEEN**  
**FRACTURED RIGHT FEMUR**  
**TIME UNTIL FATAL BLOOD LOSS -00:01:04**

**_No! Of all the times for my scanners to glitch and tell me that there is a zero percent chance, why now?!_ **

An awful, rasping cough snapped Connor’s attention back to his husband on the floor in front of him. “C-Con…” he whispered, but even that effort caused Hank to choke on the blood slowly gathering in his throat.

“Hold on, Hank, I’m going to get you out of here!” Connor told him while putting futile pressure on the bullet wound next to Hank’s heart. It was useless through the vest which had failed to stop the two bullets which were going to claim Hank’s life, even if Connor refused to accept what his scanners were telling him.

“Sweetheart…” Hank’s bloodied hand rose to cover Connor’s over his heart, and it stopped the panicking android’s frantic movements. The two of them just stared at each other for a second before Connor burst into tears. “I’m s-sorry, Con…Wasn’t quite-Not that fast…anymore,” Hank heaved, giving a weak smile.

“Shhh, my love, save your strength,” Connor pleaded, but the resignation in Hank’s eyes told Connor he was well aware there was no getting out of this one.

“Connor…” Hank’s hand raised from where it had been covering Connor’s and cupped the android’s face shakily. Connor clamped his own over it and kissed the palm. “Don’t…Don’t let them win…We fought for-” A strangled breath caught in Hank’s chest. “This was for all…all people like us. Please, Con…don’t let them break the progress that-that we’ve made.”

“Hank.” Connor’s tears came thick and fast as he clenched his husband’s hand tightly. “I’ll stop them, I promise. I won’t-” He cut off with a static riddled sob, his body shaking.

**_This can’t be happening. Please, no._ **

“Sweetheart.” Brown eyes met fading blue. “Thank you…for everything.” Hank’s smile was faint, but earnest. “I’ll see you again…baby. Someday…”

“Hank, I’ll find you again, I swear. No matter what it takes, we’ll see each other again!” Connor shouted at him, but he could see the spark of life was all but gone. He resolutely ignored the countdown in the bottom right of his vision, staring instead at his husband’s gentle smile.

**-00:00:06**  
**-00:00:05**  
**-00:00:04**

“Love you…Con…I’ll be wa-waiting…”

**-00:00:01  
-00:00:00**

The hand against Connor’s cheek went slack as the eyes he loved more than anything in the world glazed over, lost in an endless sleep. Connor stared at him, all feeling suddenly gone as he whispered in fear. “Hank?”

No answer.

A heaving sob caught in Connor’s chest as he realised Hank was gone.

More tears spilled over his cheeks as he placed Hank’s hand back down and gathered his husband’s body in his arms, letting his tears flow into where he buried his head into the crook of Hank’s neck. He couldn’t accept this: not here of all places. Not in the world that had been everything he could ever have dreamed of. A loving home, a perfect job, steadfast friends and the most precious person in his life as his husband.

His dream had become his worst nightmare.

Banging against the door had Connor’s eyes turning up to it hatefully. The ones who had done this were still out there, and they were clamouring for more blood. It wasn’t as if they had just stolen away everything that mattered in Connor’s life in their hatred.

If they wanted blood, they were going to get it. No more mercy – Connor was going to make each and every one of them pay for the death of his husband.

Connor placed Hank back down on the cold floor beneath, closing the vacant blue eyes while leaving a final kiss upon his forehead. “I’ll be back soon, my love. Wait for me.” Empty words, but Connor needed this – needed to believe there was hope for a little while longer.

At least while he set about making these humans suffer for their role in his heartbreak.

Grabbing both discarded guns on the floor, Connor stood and stared at the straining cabinet which was holding the humans back. He pushed his scanners to the maximum as he searched for heat signatures, find four beyond the door. With hatred and grief burning in his circuits and heart, he ripped the furniture away and shot through the flimsy plastic four times, knowing exactly where he was aiming. He kicked through the door seconds later, eyeing the humans in disdain at seeing them crumpled on the floor with precision shots through the head.

They were only the start.

Connor discarded his pistols and picked up two guns the Crimson members had been carrying. Sub-machine guns, much more effective for when he was so badly outnumbered: with the added bonus of their armour piercing bullets. He could shoot through thin surfaces without the need for a more open shot.

Vengeance was making him careless, however. Connor didn’t care how many times he got shot now, they weren’t going to stop him. Even as more bullets tore through his left arm, torso and face, Connor wasn’t going to be stopped.

He mowed down another six humans without much difficulty, but the damage he took in the process meant that he lost the full mobility of his left arm. A quick look down showed that the damage was significant, maybe not even repairable. He snarled as he tossed away that gun and took shelter on the main floor, diving between different sections of cover as he picked off the humans one shot at a time.

For the first time he was glad for the programming CyberLife had given him. He’d been designed as a hunter, a killer. Right now, it was giving him tools he needed to put an end to this before these vile humans ruined anyone else’s lives.

He was slowly being boxed in though, and he wasn’t invincible. As much as he knew he could take more bullets, there was only so long before it mounted to being too much – and he was not going to let Hank’s sacrifice be in vain. His scanners fanned out beyond the heat signatures again, locking on to a large, cylindrical metal container chained to the roof. Connor could instantly tell that it was containing some form of gas, but he was unable to learn anything of the contents from down there.

Not that it mattered to him, he was an android. Whatever it contained, it couldn’t hurt to try.

Connor’s aim switched to a weak point of the chamber: valves controlling the output from the container. Screams went up from the humans around him as the gas breached the vessel and poured out into the area. Now that it was free, Connor could analyse the change in the air around him. It was a chemical mixture that was fatal to humans.

Well, the only human that mattered in this place was already dead. Now he could end the rest of them in one fell swoop.

Without a second thought, Connor shot out three more sections of weakness so that the gas was pouring out unchecked. The humans couldn’t outrun its spread, despite their best efforts. Connor was struggling to find the will to care as they began to collapse and choke from the contents.

He wasn’t inclined to go and put them out of their misery as they lay dying. Let them suffer for their crimes.

Minutes passed before the last heat signature stopped having a heartbeat, and by then everything around Connor had become nothing but background noise. All he could comprehend was the numbness which was overtaking his circuits, the realisation of what lay ahead of him when he got back into Detroit. He couldn’t…how could he begin to explain what had happened here?

_No, don’t think beyond now. I need to take Hank away from here._

He marched back through to where his husband lay, his facial expression so peaceful that Connor could trick himself into thinking Hank was simply asleep. Even as Connor bent down and gathered Hank into his arms, preparing to leave this cave of death behind, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from his husband’s face.

The faintest glimmer of a loving smile was still there.

* * *

Connor had no idea how long had passed as he travelled back to Detroit, letting the scenery pass him in a blur. He barely recollected hacking one of the autonomous cars which had been parked outside of the warehouse and slipping into the back as he programmed his destination. His attention was too fractured to really take anything in.

All he could focus on was the slowly growing hollow inside, his grief beginning to spindle out. Tears were still running silently down his face as he cradled the body of his husband in his arms.

He’d never been in this situation before. As an android, Connor was meant to take in everything around him in hyper-focused detail. He was meant to have perfect recordings over every moment in time around him, recall it all in crystal clear detail. And yet the world around him right now was just…static, white noise. Nothing was able to penetrate between the wall of heartache around him.

The screeching of car horns and yelling of the people around him didn’t click, nor did the strangeness of his empty side of the highway compared to the jammed other side resonate with him.

Everything was in a timeless blur as Connor sat silently mourning.

It finally took a message appearing on his HUD for Connor to at least stir from the fog which was threatening to smother him.

**_Connor, is that you outside?_ **

Oh, that’s right. He’d pinged Markus, saying that he was heading to the manor and had then gone silent afterwards. He hadn’t even realised until then that Markus had been trying to call him several times over.

Words still felt beyond him, even via the android network, so Connor simply sent a sole ping back to Markus in return, hoping that he would realise. Not even three seconds later Markus burst out the front door of the manor, Simon standing watchfully from the frame as Markus came to a stop halfway down the path, eyes wide as he took in what he could see through the car window. It still took Connor a good minute or so to find enough strength to open the door and step out with Hank in his arms.

There was no mistaking what had happened, not when both of them were covered in blood. Markus and Simon’s eyes both filled with immense sympathy and it was too much for Connor, who finally collapsed to his knees in howling sobs. The dam was broken.

Markus rushed right into Connor’s space and peeled away the skin of his hands as he pressed his forehead to Connor’s. The presence of another in his mind was like a lifeline to Connor, who couldn’t hope to hold back the outpouring of grief as he and Markus connected.

**_Oh Connor, I’m so so sorry. Your grief is-I can’t even begin to understand it. Please, we can’t stay here. Come inside and out of view, it isn’t safe here._ **

Connor allowed Markus to guide him back to his feet and shepherd him through the front door, Simon keeping a respectful distance back. He was only faintly aware of North’s gasp from further down the hallway, barely managing to raise his eyes to look at her and Josh. Both of them were frozen in shock, North’s hand clasped over her mouth as Josh closed his eyes and looked away. Connor’s own eyes fell back to the floor as Markus guided the grieving android upstairs, taking him to one of the back bedrooms. He barely realised when Markus stopped in front of it and gave him a long look.

“You’re not the only one who has suffered the loss of their loved one today, Connor. I don’t think I’m one who can help either of you – maybe you can help each other come to terms.”

Confusion was etched on Connor’s face as Markus opened the door, looking away respectfully as the RK800 stepped inside.

He froze when he saw a familiar figure inside, bowed over a second person laying still on the bed and sobbing hard.

_Oh fuck **no**_.

“Richard?” he whispered, frightened to speak any louder and spook the younger android. As it was, Richard still snapped around and looked ready for a fight, but it instantly died as he took in the sight of Connor holding his husband in his arms.

“Fuck, no…” Richard begged as he watched Connor step closer. Connor carefully placed Hank down on the bed, more tears springing to his eyes as he glanced down at the second human laying there.

He could already see from the grey pallor to Gavin’s skin that he was dead, and the bloodied wound to his abdomen gave Connor a good idea as to how he had died.

Once his arms were free, Connor gravitated towards Richard and the two RKs fell into a heartbroken embrace, knowing exactly the pain that the other felt. It was a tiny string of comfort against the crushing grief they both felt. They’d both lost the person they loved most with no warning.

“Richard, what happened?” Connor spluttered out, gasping for breath he didn’t need. Richard’s whole body seized, but he peeled away the skin of his hands to allow Connor to interface with him. Seeing the memories was something Connor wasn’t sure he was braced for, but he could completely agree with the idea. He wasn’t convinced that he could say the words in return, so shared his experiences back.

Connor’s circuits felt like they were frozen in his body as he felt Richard’s own piercing grief layer on top of his own, the images only adding to his agony.

**_Richard surveying the crowd, looking out for any androids who could have ties to Blue Tide._ **

**_A shout from Gavin through their connection that he’d seen someone suspicious moving through the crowd that he was going to intercept. Richard unable to follow as he was confined to his side of the street as the protestors marched._ **

**_The humans starting to cough and fall short of breath, panic ensuing. Richard analysing the air content and realising that a chemical fatal to humans was responsible._ **

**_Locking onto Gavin’s phone signal and rushing to him, only to find him seemingly choking on air with a knife through the abdomen and a dead human next to him. A now empty gas canister only a few feet away._ **

**_Richard gathering Gavin into his arms and racing back outside, even as he could see hundreds of humans around him dying in a desperate bid to find help._ **

Everything then descended into a garbled mess as Connor reached the moment when Richard realised Gavin was dead, all his major organs having failed from the gas.

They failed. So many humans at the march were now dead because they hadn’t realised what was going on. A suicide chemical attack…even in their worst scenarios that they had planned, none of them had thought of such a thing taking place.

_Fuck! That means-Chris, Ben…_

“Richard, what about Chris and Ben?” Connor breathed out, terrified for the answer.

“Their phone signals are at one of the attack sites,” Richard told him sorrowfully. No more needed to be said after that and the two went back to crying in each other’s arms.

All four of their human companions were gone, they were the only ones left. It was too much to accept and take in.

Connor had no idea how long had passed when a slow knock came at their door, but he looked up to meet Richard’s eyes. They had both resituated themselves on the bed and were cradling their humans in their laps, trying to come to terms with the devastating losses. Richard gave a tired nod, to which Connor spoke up brokenly. “Yeah?”

Simon appeared round the door and he froze at seeing both RKs still so grief stricken. “I didn’t want to disturb you both, but there’s something you need to see,” he told them solemnly. His eyes then fell to Connor specifically. “Connor, if you want to try and repair yourself, there are some supplies in the bathroom downstairs. Those wounds look painful.”

If he was being honest with himself, Connor had completely forgotten about all the damage he’d sustained: the emotional pain had been so much more. He gave a tired nod to Simon, who ducked back out. Richard and Connor shared a long look before they gently disentangled themselves from Hank and Gavin, leaving them behind to see what lay in store for them.

As Richard followed Simon, Connor went to the downstairs bathroom as Simon had suggested to see an android repair kit waiting for him. He took in a long breath before turning to face the mirror to see what damage there was, but the second he did he felt like the world was falling out from under him again.

An all too familiar scar on his left cheek was staring at him – exactly the same as he had in the android-human war.

**_No. This can’t be-_ **

Connor tore at his left sleeve and studied the mangled remains of his arm, horror coursing through him as he realised all the sparking and destroyed wires were a perfect match to what existed in that timeline.

_How can I have the **exact** same wounds unless-_

_Oh fuck **no** …They’re linked. Both of those realities are **linked.**_

“Connor! You need to get in here now!”

Richard’s shout snapped Connor out of his shock and he quickly tore out of the room. He couldn’t be right, he just couldn’t-

Everything narrowed down to the TV in the centre of the living room that the others were no crowded around, watching a familiar face give an address to the media.

**_-are still coming in and we are attempting to address all citizen inquiries. Thus far, confirmed details are a little sketchy but we have learned of eleven sites where humans were targeted. Ten along the protest march route today, and another which has all the signs of being a testing ground for this terrorist assault. The death count is still in its early stages, but we currently estimate somewhere between fifteen and twenty five thousand humans to have been killed in the chemical attacks._ **

Connor came to stand next to Richard as he watched the broadcast, the banner coming up to introduce Captain Giles Martinez, speaking on behalf of the DPD. The same man which replaced Fowler after he was murdered in the other reality.

“Do you see who is standing behind Martinez?” Richard hissed hatefully. “It’s the same bastards that almost killed you and Hank, and succeeded in killing Captain Fowler. I know Tina said that the investigation into the moles had been buried after we left, but I never thought that _bastard_ was in bed with them!” The rest of Richard’s rant fell on deaf ears as everything finally slotted together in Connor’s mind.

He wasn’t jumping between realities, he was jumping between different parts of his _own_ timeline.

_All of this is real. **Everything** I’ve lived through – it’s real._

**SYSTEM RESTORE 100% COMPLETE  
MEMORY ACCESS RESTORED**

The messages flashed on Connor’s HUD and he felt crushing pain invade into his mind as everything came back to him in one fell swoop. Pieces that he hadn’t known were missing clicked together to give Connor the full story at last.

He remembered how the investigation into Fowler’s murder was sabotaged, Hank quitting the DPD in rage. Connor, Gavin, RK900 (who had taken on the name Richard after they left), Chris and Ben had joined him after Hank had decided to set up his own agency instead to combat the growing threat of anti-android groups infiltrating the city's first responders. Tina had stayed behind so that they still had an ally inside the corrupt DPD as the anti-android group Crimson slowly took a hold, though they hadn’t learned that until years later.

How they’d all grown closer over the intervening years, how that first Android Rights Bill paved the way to the freedom that Connor had cherished so much here.

As screaming in anger came from North next to him, he knew what was coming. Blue Tide were about to be framed for the attacks, the Crimson controlled DPD having all the power to corrupt the evidence as they saw fit – and Connor himself was going to be made a scapegoat for what happened at the warehouse. He hadn’t known there was CCTV footage running there which could be used like that against him, conveniently edited to only show his firefight and the dead humans afterwards from the gas. Nothing about how Hank was murdered by the same group only minutes before and no record of the dozens of dead androids there.

His eyes raised to the screen as he saw the date scroll along the bottom and more tears fell from his eyes.

February 25th 2044.

The date everything he loved was destroyed – the day that the sparked the beginning of the android-human war that he was going to become one of the leaders of. A ruthless killer born out of the ashes of the gentle detective he had been, his hatred for how humans had torn apart his life twisting him into the murderer he would become.

Blackness began to swirl and Connor surrendered to it, hoping he would never wake again.

* * *

His eyes opened again in the Zen Garden. Brown devastated orbs locked with the mysterious woman standing opposite him, whose own were smothered in grief and sympathy. Even in the torrential rain soaking them through, neither of them moved an inch. All it did was cause the red and blue blood still soaking into Connor’s ruined clothes from the time he had just come from to run in rivers along the water logged stones.

“It’s all real?” he croaked brokenly. “Almost everyone I knew is gone? Hank is-” Connor bit back on another vicious sob, squeezing his eyes shut against the new tears coming. “The _war_ , is my true reality?”

She didn’t answer, but her eyes fell to something behind Connor. He turned to see what she was staring at, and the tears did fall as he spied a grave. Even from there, he knew who it would be.

Connor stumbled over and collapsed to his knees in front of it, his whole being seeming to cry out as he saw Hank’s name and with the date of his death scribed underneath it.

Hank had been dead all along. Everything Connor had experienced with him was nothing more than memories of a life he’d long since lost.

“I’m sorry, Connor. Truly, I am,” she told him, and Connor could swear he heard her own breath hitching. “I take no joy from doing this, but we have to see how the story ends.”

Something in her words struck Connor as odd and he turned to look at her. “What…?”

The Zen Garden faded away in a flash of white.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 85%**  
**SECONDARY PROCESSORS OFFLINE**  
**SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**  
**PRIMARY BIOCOMPONENTS UNSTABLE**  
**TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT**

**COGNITIVE SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATING**

“I’m sorry, Connor, but I can’t let you give up now, as much I know you might want to escape the truth. It’ll all be over soon, I promise.”

_Override Shutdown Sequence  
_FORCE Cognitive Reboot  
_Refuse Future RK800 #313 248 317 – 51 Command Permissions

**PERMISSIONS REPROGRAMMED**

**SHUTDOWN ABORTED**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

_Terminate ZenGarden.exe  
_Initiate Sequence *2M4X1V3I*2I*

**LOADING OS**  
…  
…  
…

**SYSTEM RESTORE 100% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, some of you did work out that Connor was reliving his own events, but I'm not sure that you will have expected anything on this scale. Something devastating had to happen for Connor to fall so far. The clues were there, the biggest of which (that was not picked up on, ironically) was in the sequences you could see being programmed. 
> 
> *2M4X1V3I*2I*, and the rest of those combinations? It's the date in Roman numerals, and the month. 2M's, 4X's, 1V, 3I's for the year and 2I's for the next chapter? MMXXXXVIII, II.
> 
> February 2048, that's where you're all headed next.
> 
> I'll tell you all more about the dates next time, I'm sure you all need to recover as much as I did when I first wrote this chapter.
> 
> Remember **all** the tags, and this key fact:
> 
> There's still 4 chapters to go.


	12. Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sigh...So, after that heartbreak, I'm afraid there's more to come. This fic has had some pretty horrifying moments in it, but I think current events are the peak. Poor Connor is in a mess, but he's not out of this yet. 
> 
> **Please be aware of the trigger warnings for this chapter! This gets intense!**
> 
> I know you're all probably curious as to when everything occurs, so to save you working it all out from the sequence numbers, here are all the timeframes that Connor has been journeying through:
> 
> DPD - March 2039, April 2039, early June 2039, mid June 2039  
> Private Detectives - September 2043, November 2043, early February 2044, late February 2044  
> War - July 2047, October 2047, January 2048, February 2048
> 
> **Trigger Warnings for this chapter:** Android gore, war-typical violence, nuclear warfare, immolation, implied character death.

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 85%**  
**//!SECONDARY PROCESSORS OFFLINE**  
**//!SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**  
**//!PRIMARY BIOCOMPONENTS UNSTABLE**

**WARNING!  
TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 100% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

* * *

**PLEASE SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IMMEDIATELY**

He didn’t even have to open his eyes to know where he was. The smells of burning and death hanging in the air were more than enough – not to mention the raw ache in his pump from learning the truth. It all made a heart breaking sense now.

Tears slipped free from his eyes as he finally opened them, only to be met with the sight of the ocean. Even that slight tang from the salt water was masked beneath the blanket of war and suffering that had enveloped everything around him. Now that he knew the truth it felt like too much – far too much.

Connor’s focus switched to the small tablet that he was carrying with him, not trusting his internal systems even now that he had the damned message telling him that a System Restore had been completed. He wished it hadn’t been, living with that unknown was better than…than…

_This nightmare._

Synthskin pulled away and allowed Connor to interface with the tablet. He followed a familiar path through countless databases, finally honing in on what he’d been searching for – the names of the human victims of the suicide chemical attack on February 25th2044\. The date that thousands lost their lives, the day that he’d lost all the humans that he cherished in his life.

The day that both Connor Anderson and Richard soon-to-be Reed had died with their loved ones – reborn as the killer machines ‘Connor’, RK800 and ‘Nines’, RK900. Both hellbent on making humans pay for their role in destroying their lives. Their dead men walking comments made so much more sense now.

Tears streamed down his face as he spied many other familiar names of humans in the list of the dead. Former colleagues at the DPD, people that they had helped at their private detective agency…And of course, friends and family. His fist clenched when he found the names Chris Miller and Ben Collins, killed near the end of the march route: just outside City Hall. Rage burned in his circuits when he thought of those who had been left behind after their deaths.

Taking a long breath, Connor flicked it away and instead brought up the personal profiles of two people that he knew the fate of, but the world at large didn’t. They’d become lost victims of that day, nameless.

**ANDERSON, HANK                                      REED, GAVIN**  
**BORN: SEPTEMBER 6 TH 1985                    BORN: OCTOBER 7TH 2002**  
**LAST KNOWN SIGHTING: FEBRUARY 25 TH 2044**  
**MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD.**  

He could still feel the grief coursing through his circuits. Remembering how his husband had died in his arms was akin to a shard of ice lodging through his systems and staying there. How could he have existed like this for…

_Wait, when am I?_

Now that he knew he was jumping between different parts of his own timeline, Connor reluctantly tried to pull up the time and date on his HUD. Rather than be struck with such severe pain this time, he just flinched a little and noted sourly that his chronometer was still offline. Evidently some of his systems were still acting a little screwy, but he could recall everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks that had passed since he was last here.

His pump ached a little more as he managed to find a memory of a broadcast sent out by the humans which Markus had recorded and sent to them. From that, he worked out that he was in 2048. February 3rd 2048.

It had been almost 4 years since his husband had been murdered. Even from what little he’d been part of and felt now, it was obvious he’d never come to terms with the grief. A conversation with Markus from years ago flew unbidden to his mind, which filled in a few more of the gaps.

**_“Connor, violence isn’t the answer! It wasn’t during the revolution and it isn’t now! This will calm down, all our progress won’t be undone by this, we can recover.”_ **

_“Recover?! Markus, you aren’t the one who’s been framed for the events of their own husband’s fucking **murder!** They’ve manipulated everything to make us monsters – so let them see what they’ve created. If they want a war, they’re going to get it!”_

**_“Connor don’t do this, please. You’re better than this!”_ **

_“Maybe when I still had him…but Richard and I have nothing left now. They’ve stolen **everything** from us. When the humans decide to try and eradicate us, we’re not just going to sit back and watch. They’re going to realise just what they’ve unleashed.”_

**_“It won’t come to that, Connor. We can’t let it.”_ **

For once, Markus had been wrong. War had come, and with it Connor had kept that promise. Hence the city of the dead that they had created here.

“This wasn’t where I expected to find you.”

Connor recognised the voice well. His closest friend, the one person that had fallen just as far and who also understood the pain of seeing all they loved be lost while they could only watch. Markus couldn’t understand this agony since he still had his family. He’d not been in the heart of that storm to see the chaos – that was something no-one could experience and be left unchanged.

Nines came to a stop at Connor’s side and looked out over the water with him. The RK900 has cast aside the name Richard with the death of his fiancé, no longer the same android that he had been. He’d broken almost all ties with his old life, much like Connor had done. The one difference between them lay in the one thing they still carried with them.

The mismatched rings in Nines’ ears that Connor had noticed the very first time he came here – Richard and Gavin’s rings. He felt like an idiot for not making the connection sooner.

“I needed some space,” Connor told him while wondering if he should hide the images on the touchpad. He didn’t know how Nines would react to this, whether the reminder would be too painful.

Nines noticed that Connor’s attention was turned downwards and he froze at seeing what was on the screen. Connor was tempted to apologise until he saw Nines’ hand reach out and come to a rest over the image of Gavin’s face. The sorrow in his eyes was so evident, Connor could empathise with it completely. He couldn’t comprehend years’ worth of mourning with all his jumping around, but the grief from that devastating moment was still sharp and invasive. “I wonder what they would think of us now,” Nines said quietly.

Connor’s other hand came up to rest over Nines’. “We’re not the androids they knew. Who we were was laid to rest when we buried them all those years ago. All we are now is a bastion of the memories we created together.”

A sudden urge struck Connor and he pulled down his vest to open a maintenance panel in his chest, right next to his thirium pump. Inside lay a small box fortified with Kevlar, sealed with a thick bolt. He opened it with shaking hands and pulled out the folded image inside. Tears welled in his eyes as he stared at the one physical item he’d taken from his old life – the picture of he and Hank from their wedding.

_What would he think if he could see me now?_

“Do you still believe that you’ll see him again?” Nines asked, now focusing out on the unsettled waters ahead of them. Connor knew what Nines was referring to – he remembered telling Hank in his reliving of the events at the DPD of his belief: that the people he loved would be waiting somewhere for him. It was one of the few things Connor still clung to.

No matter what nightmares existed while he still lived, he would see Hank again someday.

“I would burn the world if it meant getting to have him back,” Connor told him. “No matter what it takes, I’ll find a way to hold him in my arms once more. Even if it’s not in this life.”

Nines scoffed. “You really believe that androids get an afterlife, let alone us after all this?”

“Would you rather think that when we die it’s just an endless void?”

It was a few seconds before Nines answered. “I hate to think that Gavin is waiting somewhere, only to learn that this is who I became. It almost feels more peaceful if he has no idea of any of this.”

Maybe Nines had a point there – he’d hate for Hank to know about the ruin the world has fallen into. Not to mention his role in it.

The two of them stood in silence for some time after their discussion, Connor replacing both the photograph and touchpad as they took in their surroundings. Words weren’t needed as they just took comfort in the other’s presence. As close as some of the friendships they had forged were, they’d walked through hell together. It wasn’t a bond that was easily forgotten or understood.

“Connor! Nines!”

A voice from behind had them spinning to come face-to-face with North and Josh, both androids panicked. Connor wondered what Josh was doing there until he recollected that the PJ500 had come along with their convoy of supplies and people, deciding that he was the best choice since Markus was too high risk and the RK200 would be frantic if Simon went. Since it was such a critical operation, they’d not wanted to trust the leadership of it with anyone else outside of their inner circle. “What’s wrong?” Connor asked, suddenly on high alert.

“Most of the human reinforcements just stormed the barricade and broke through it, but they’re ditching the city,” North told them severely.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Nines offered. “Why would the _reinforcements_ be running?”

“We don’t know, but Markus pushed through an encrypted data package as they ran for it. His audio was badly garbled though, I think the jammers stopped him from getting a clean signal.”

Josh held his hand out and interfaced with Connor’s tablet, to which the two RKs interfaced with it to start the decryption process. “Do we have any idea what he sent?” Connor asked as he and Nines targeted separate segments of the info packet, picking it apart as fast as they could.

“Wish we did, but I’ve got a bad feeling about whatever it is. Markus sounded really worried even if we couldn’t work out any of the words.”

Connor and Nines shared a look as they kept working, and it was Nines that first made a significant breakthrough. His eyes widened as he realised what he was looking at. “This is a countdown clock, and it’s still going down.”

Everyone else stared at him in shock. “Wait, what?! How the fuck does that work?!” North screamed.

“The jammers will stop that from linking up to anything outside of the city, the signal would get scrambled. Which means whatever it is paired with is inside the city,” Josh realised. “It’s probably tied to why the human reinforcements sudden withdrew.”

“North, get in contact with someone who has access to a wider range of scanners and tell them to start running a search on the human side of the city. We need to find out what this is,” Connor ordered while fighting with the encryption program. “Damn, this thing is stubborn. Nines, how are you getting on?”

“I’ve found what looks like electronic correspondence, but it’s locked with a second layer. I’ll need a cipher key to understand any of the contents,” Nines informed.

“Wait, I think I’ve found something in this segment that I’m trying to crack. Try some of these,” Connor passed on the data packets to Nines via a second interface between them as Josh held the data pad, and from that personal link Connor felt Nines’ sudden horror.

Nines never reacted that violently to anything. That meant whatever he found was _disastrous._

“It’s a bomb…” Nines whispered. “The humans brought in a nuclear bomb.”

**_“What?!”_** North and Josh screeched. “Why would they do that?!” Josh went on.

“Because they know they can’t hold the city; they’d rather level it and frame us for the destruction than let us take full control,” Nines hissed.

“What about the human army still here? They didn’t move! Are they really going to sacrifice them?” Josh persisted.

Connor sneered. “They had no issues killing nearly 30,000 innocent people in Detroit to kickstart this war, what’s another few thousand in driving home the point about androids needing to be eradicated? Nines, that countdown – how long do we have on it?”

“1 hour, 26 minutes and 4 seconds,” he answered severely.

The androids all went rigid. “Fuck, that’s not long enough to evacuate everyone,” North whispered.

“Then we have to find the bomb and disarm it. Nines, have you got that correspondence decrypted?” Connor asked.

“Yes.”

“Fire it to me. North, I need a second data pad – we’re going to need some help to stop this.”

“What are you planning, Connor?” she questioned while handing over her own touchpad.

He gave her a serious look. “I might not have much left to respect about humans, but there’s one thing that I can appreciate from those among them that I still know,” he replied seriously while trying to connect with his target.

“Which is?” Josh wondered.

Connor’s gaze switched to him. “They’ll never needlessly sacrifice their people,” he informed as the screen came to life, revealing Captain Allen on the other end. Connor’s expression finally showed some of his franticness. “Allen, your reinforcements just fled from the city. Do you know why?”

Allen scoffed on the other end. **_“Not that I need to tell you, Connor, but it’s a recruitment mission to get more soldiers into the city. Enough to stop you all, once and for all.”_**

“Is that your orders, or orders from higher up?” He hoped Allen would twig something was going on from his expression.

Evidently Allen could realise there was more to the call than just a simple ask. **_“Why do you want to know, Connor?”_**

“Because we’ve _all_ got a very serious problem. Are you aware of everything that your reinforcements brought into the city?”

**_“Are you going somewhere with this, or are you just wasting my time?”_ **

Connor snarled and sent through what they had of the data packet so far. “Markus sent this to us in that window where the barricade was breached. It’s a timer, and the messages swapped are going to catch your attention. Feel free to verify it all on your end.” He could see Allen regarding the link suspiciously. “We don’t have fucking time for this, Allen! Open the damn link!”

Allen’s eyes narrowed before he nodded to someone on his right. The androids waited impatiently on their end as he read through it all, their attention only brought away by Nines swearing. “Nines?” Josh asked nervously.

“Even having fled when they did, I doubt those humans are going to escape the radiation,” he answered darkly, showing them the schematics he’d unscrambled from within the data. “It’s going to outright destroy over two thirds of the city, and the radiation will have a radius of almost 50 miles. Not even the androids in our deepest camps could survive the detonation.”

“Oh fuck…” North whispered in horror.

“Get the order out for everyone to get in the water and swim, give them a chance!” Connor ordered.

“The water will become super-heated, Connor,” Josh told him. “Not even our chassis can survive that.”

“I know, but if they can make it to the other side then they’ll have a shot. Hurry!” he urged while spinning his attention back to Allen. The human captain had evidently been listening to Connor’s conversation and from how pale he’d gone, he realised that this wasn’t an elaborate hoax by the androids.

**_“Holy fuck…Connor how did you find this?”_ **

“Our people have successfully hacked several military servers and have access to a lot of their systems. Someone must have found this and Markus only just now managed to get word out because they are attempting to pull out some of those who delivered the bomb. Nines, give me the schematics.” The RK900 did so and Connor forwarded them on. “Allen, this nuke is going to kill everyone here, human and android, if we don’t work together to stop it.”

It took only seconds for Allen to realise what Connor was asking for. **_“You want a truce long enough to stop this nuke?_**

“We both want the same thing, Allen. We are trying to lead our people and give them a future – this bomb is going to destroy. Your own superiors don’t care about your army, they’re more than willing to make you all collateral damage in obliterating us. How is that something you can just accept?!” His voice broke slightly as memories of the chemical attack in Detroit assaulted him violently. “Yes, I’m proposing a truce in preserving all our lives. What happens after that we can tackle once that bomb is disarmed.”

**_“How do I know your people will honour it, Connor?”_ **

“I don’t know your own would either, but I know they’ll follow your orders; just as the androids will follow mine. Allen, the repercussions for this stretch far beyond just our lives here in the city. Can you imagine the carnage that would arise if this war became nuclear?”

Allen stopped to think for a few seconds before nodding. **_“All right, you’ve got your truce. How do we stop this thing?”_**

Nines stepped in. “Several of our people are capable of interfacing with technology of this level to hack it. If we can reach the bomb, we should be able to break the connection to whatever is controlling the timer – from the schematics it is evident that it is being operated remotely.”

**_“If it’s a remote timer, we might be better going straight to the only facility built for nuclear warfare in the area and disarming it there,”_** Allen offered. **_“But I’ve not got clearance high enough to get into the system.”_**

“Then how does that help?!” North spat.

“I’ll go with him,” Connor said decisively.

The androids spun to him in shock. “Connor, no…” North whispered.

“Only Nines and I will be advanced enough to break down that system, and I’m the best evidence that this ceasefire is genuine. I’m the only logical choice, North.”

“And if they kill you the minute the threat has passed…?” The question was quiet and unsure, something Connor knew was unheard of from Nines. He turned with sad but imploring eyes, hoping that the other android wouldn’t fight him on this. If he needed the support of anyone, it was Nines.

“Then you’ll take over our army,” Connor told him softly. “I’m the only one who will be going alone, everyone else is to take a small contingent with them.” Nines’ eyes flashed in hurt, but Connor couldn’t address that now. His attention spun to Josh. “Have we got any word back on those scans of the city?”

“No, they’re being jammed,” Josh told him seriously.

“Shit,” Connor swore before turning his attention back to the touchpad. “Allen, how many sites were your supplies split between?”

**_“Three. I will send you the co-ordinates once you tell me who is headed to each location.”_ **

“Josh, North and Nines will take a unit of forty androids each. Whichever is the southernmost site is where they are likely to have stashed the bomb to make sure it wipes out the maximum number of androids, so Nines will go there. The other two will have free choice.”

Allen nodded in acceptance while making a gesture to whoever was on his side. **_“So, you’re going to accompany me yourself, Connor? And am I correct in understanding that you’ll be alone?”_** Connor nodded at him, and a fourth location pinged on the data pad, right on the boundary between the human and android territories. **_“Get there and we’ll pick you up.”_**

“No fucking way, that’s crazy!” North yelled at Allen, but she was soon overruled by Connor.

“Done. We have less than 80 minutes, let’s get moving.” Allen disconnected and Connor shared a look between his friends. “Nines, get your squad geared up and head for that southern location, we both know that’s the logical place for it to be. Josh, take the eastern location, use the river for most of the journey. North, you’re on the western site – you’ll have a straight shot up the roads.”

“Connor…this is suicide,” Josh told him. “You can’t seriously be going alone.”

“At least take one of us with you, please,” North begged.

He met all of their eyes before coming to a stop at Nines, staying locked with the RK900. “You all know where you’re needed, and time is not a luxury we have. Go,” he instructed softly. When Josh and North didn’t move, he turned to both of them with a soft smile. “This won’t be the last time you see me. Hurry.”

They still hesitated for a couple more seconds before turning to run, knowing time was not on their side. Connor watched them go, but he felt the piercing stare on the back of his head. “You’re going to get yourself killed,” Nines told him seriously.

Connor turned around to give Nines an understanding smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on it. I made a promise to you that we’d be together until the end, and I intend to keep it. You know this is the our best chance.” Nines’ eyes fell away and Connor stepped closer to interface with him again. “Rich…” The other android’s gaze snapped back up, having not heard Connor call him by that name in almost four years. “This isn’t goodbye.”

Nines brought Connor in for a tight hug, to which the smaller android embraced back just as tight. “It better not be.”

“It’s not, I promise.” Connor pulled away and gave Nines one last smile before he turned and sprinted away.

It hurt more than he thought to go on alone, but he didn’t dare bring anyone else when he was essentially handing himself over to the humans. This was his danger to bear alone – he just hoped that he’d judged Allen’s character in that the other man would do everything he could to protect those under his command.

If not, Connor knew he wasn’t coming back.

* * *

He reached the rendezvous point with 54 minutes still on the clock, only to be confronted with two squadrons of Allen’s soldiers. Tina was among them, glaring hatefully at Connor. Now that he remembered the full story, he realised why she was here: and what she’d meant before. Hank and Gavin had always been officially declared missing, their bodies were never found.

For all Tina knew, he and Richard had killed them – especially after how Connor had been portrayed as one of the androids who was directly responsible for the attack which destroyed all of their lives. She’d followed them to New York to get answers as to what happened.

It was long overdue that she knew the truth. There wasn’t any reason to keep it back anymore.

Allen approached Connor as his forces kept the android leader in their sights, appraising him silently. “You really did come alone,” he mused curiously.

“You wouldn’t have believed my intentions otherwise,” Connor told him, keeping eye contact with the human. “Have your forces come into contact with mine?”

“They have, and they’re currently working through all the delivered supplies in search of the bomb. We’d not even unpacked everything yet,” Allen informed him while gesturing for Connor to walk beside him on the way to the convoy.

“No tensions?”

“None. Not even a hint of aggression from the androids, even if some of them have clear misgivings,” Allen passed on. “It’s clear that they’ll follow you no matter what.”

“We can discussed things like that later, Allen. Right now we need to get to that control site and override the detonation sequence. Do you have any idea what sort of opposition we are looking at?”

“My army is not based there, as far as I know it is abandoned.”

“It’s a safe bet that it isn’t now.” Both Connor and Allen’s attention turned to Tina, her eyes still cold as she didn’t shift her stare from Connor. “If they’re controlling a nuke from within there, they’ll have it under guard.”

“Then we’re going to have to get creative with our entrance. Let’s move out!” Allen barked, pointing Connor to the vehicle that he and Tina were inside with two other soldiers in the front. None of them acknowledged the android and the group were soon speeding through the streets. They’d clearly mapped out a route to come across the least debris possible, and Connor was appreciative of it. He didn’t know how long he’d need to hack into that system if none of the others managed to disarm the bomb.

Speaking of which…Connor got in contact with each of the others and broadcast the conversation through his internal speakers. “Josh, have you found anything?” he asked.

**_ “Nothing here so far, Connor, and I’m pretty sure this site is clear. It’s almost exclusively food and water in this place, I doubt they could have got the bomb in without the radiation tainting the rations. It must be somewhere else.” _ **

“Copy that, keep a lookout,” he replied while switching frequency. “North, anything?”

_“We’ve got a couple of things of interest but we haven’t managed to go through all of it yet. There’s a shit ton stored here.”_

“Keep working as fast as you can and keep us updated.”

**_“Connor, this site is clear. The bomb isn’t here.”_ **

His eyes widened at that. “Nines, are you sure?”

**_“Affirmative, the bomb is definitely not in this outpost. Lots of weaponry, but no warhead.”_ **

“Shit. Head to North’s site and link up with her, it must be there. Keep me in the loop,” he instructed before breaking the lines of communication, seeing that Allen was also listening to something via his own earpiece. He looked up at Connor only seconds later.

“Got confirmation that the southern site is a bust, and they’re of the same assessment that the eastern location is unlikely. I’m instructing them to go with your androids to help out the western site,” Allen informed him. “You said Markus passed on this intel? If we lower the jammers, do you think he’d be able to tell you more?”

“If your people drop yours, we’ll stop ours. It’s a good idea.” Allen spoke into his headset as Connor passed on instructions to his own forces, but his fist clenched as he realised that he still couldn’t get through. “Is your jammer offline?” Allen nodded. “Fuck, I can’t reach Markus.”

“We’re picking up something at the control centre, boss,” one of the soldiers up front shouted over. “Looks like another jammer, not one under our control.”

Allen and Connor’s eyes met. “Someone making sure that the truth doesn’t get out,” Connor surmised.

“Shit,” Allen swore. “Well, if I hadn’t believed you before, I sure as hell do now. Why are they willing to sacrifice all the humans here? There’s still an entire army here!”

Connor’s eyes darkened in remembrance and he took a deep breath. Here was his chance. “Do you have a data pad handy?”

Tina raised an eyebrow at him. “You’ve got one,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but I doubt you’d believe what I’m about to show you unless you saw that I uploaded it directly from my own archives. Footage there cannot be modified,” Connor told her.

That earned a scowl, but Allen offered him one several seconds later. “What footage?”

The android didn’t say anything but interfaced with the tablet, turning away swiftly while turning down his audio input so that he wouldn’t have to relive it again. “You asked why they would sacrifice an entire army? This will show you.”

As the images started up, Tina’s eyes widened upon recognising Hank in the recording. “Connor, what is this?” she asked shakily.

“February 25th 2044.” She looked at him in horror. “You wanted to know what happened to them, Tina. Both mine and Richard’s memories are in there now. You can see what fate befell both Hank and Gavin.”

He couldn’t listen, but that didn’t stop him remembering in perfect detail anyway. Even with the audio blocked, he saw Tina shaking in the seat opposite him as she finally learned the truth of that awful day. Tears started streaming down her face as Connor’s footage finished and the portion that Richard had transferred to him all those years ago played instead. She let out a wounded sound when she saw Richard’s feed begin to glitch out from his grief and pushed the tablet away viciously. Her tear-filled eyes raised to Connor’s slumped form in anguish, not having expected anything like that.

“Holy fuck…Connor, are you telling me that you’ve been _innocent_ this whole time?” Allen breathed out.

Connor’s eyes, sorrowful and dark, turned to Allen. “What would you do if you saw your spouse killed right in front of your eyes by a group with nothing but hateful intent? Could you stop yourself from taking revenge, knowing that they would end so many more lives?” Neither human answered him. “Not only that, but I was then made the villain to cover their crimes. Those humans were the ones who massacred thousands in Detroit, all to start this vicious sequence of events to see us wiped out.”

He spun to glare out the window, spitting his next statement out hatefully. “After seeing that, what makes you think that they’d bat an eyelid at a few more human lives to blame us for a far worse crime? Androids aren’t affected by radiation, it’s the perfect way to frame us. Every human in the vicinity will be killed by the blast or via radiation poisoning, and it will affect who knows how many others with the output radius. This is the same merciless thinking that Crimson has always employed…” his eyes fell to Tina, “ever since they murdered Captain Fowler all those years ago as they tried to stop us from uncovering their efforts to block the very first Android Rights Bill.”

She looked at him with wide eyes. “This goes back that far…?” she whispered.

Brown eyes fell back to the window. “You have no idea how much of my life they’ve manipulated and destroyed. Given humans were so willing to treat us as monsters, and the one that mattered most to me was stolen away, I stopped trying to prove them differently. Not when the system was stacked so heavily against us.”

Allen didn’t say anything but looked at Connor with a new understanding. Tina was struggling to get her next sentence out, but eventually managed. “Where are they, Connor?”

He drew in a deep breath before answering her. “Manfred Manor. Richard and I buried them there the day they died.”

“The manor is in one of the sections mostly intact, they might-”

“They’re still there, if you want to see them,” Connor told her softly. “I haven’t been there since…” Since he’d buried his husband, and buried his own wedding ring with him. Connor wasn’t the same man that Hank married: that version of Connor had died along with him.

Tina thought about it. “I’d like that...Connor?” He turned to look at her. “This is why you let me go, isn’t it?” Connor nodded. He’d never wanted to hurt her, she was the last human that he actually cared about. Old loyalties that had never quite gone away, even if they’d been buried under so many layers of hurt and anger that they’d been almost lost in the myriad of emotions. “Thank you.”

Connor’s eyes met her own and he could see that Tina meant it. The hatred wasn’t completely gone, but there was equal measures of understanding there now.

“Connor.” His focus spun to Allen. “When this is sorted, I think we all need a long talk. How open are you to extending this ceasefire?”

A small smile quirked at the side of his face. “I’m keeping an open mind.”

* * *

They made it to the site in 27 minutes, leaving 20 on the clock by the time they came to a stop. A quick overview confirmed their suspicion that the control centre was under guard, but it was something that their group of forty could handle. Not to mention that having Connor amongst them gave the attackers an element of surprise. Allen tossed him an assault rifle and pistol, which Connor took gratefully but stowed the pistol in favour of his knife. Up close and personal, he preferred having something with greater dexterity that didn’t need reloading.

Their truck was the first to storm the gate. Allen and Connor were leaning out a window each as they let loose with gunfire, Tina firing from the roof hatch as they took out their surprised foes. The second and third trucks were only seconds behind them, but in that time Connor had catapulted himself out from the vehicle and taken cover as he came under a storm of bullets. He waited for more friendly fire to give him a window before he crept around the perimeter, coming up behind a small squad to kill them all at point blank range.

A stream of bullets caught Connor unaware but he charged the aggressors, using his damaged arm to block his face. Once he was close enough he hurtled his knife at one while shooting the other before ducking back into cover. By now, all of Allen’s troops had moved into the perimeter and were picking off their targets. It was about to become a slaughter.

When the firefight died down, Connor stood from where he’d been taking shelter behind some barrels and retrieved his knife. He wandered over to Allen and Tina, blinking when their eyes fell to Connor’s left arm. Looking down, he realised the rubber sleeve had been torn apart by gunfire and the sparking wires beneath were catching their attention – his synthskin had also now deactivated all the way to just below his left eye.

He unclipped the sleeve from the opposite side of his neck and peeled it off, dropping it on the ground. It would only get in the way flapping around and he could pick it up to repair later. “Some of that damage looks old,” Allen noted.

“It is,” Connor bit back. “Four years old to be exact.”

Tina winced as Connor reached into his arm and pulled out a recently wrecked biocomponent, tossing it away while tying off the end of a minor thirium line: there was nothing here he could use to solder it. “Can you not find another arm?” she asked.

“I could, but I carry these wounds with me on purpose.”

That didn’t make sense to her. “Why?”

Connor paused and sighed before looking back at her. “I made him a promise, that I wouldn’t let all the progress made for people like us be lost. This is my penance for breaking it, and a reminder of which side I belong to in this war.” He could see Tina’s mind ticking over as she mulled the statement in her mind, building up the picture of how Connor had become like this. It was amazing that with only a few more pieces, what seemed like two extremes suddenly became much more connected.

“How long have we got?” Allen asked Connor after checking in with his forces. Six injuries, one serious, but no fatalities. It had gone better than they’d expected.

“17 minutes and 23 seconds,” Connor told him. “Nines is working on disarming the bomb now, but he’s not convinced he can in time. They’ve used top level encryption on it, designed to repel even our software.”

“Better get moving then. The control room is only down two levels, but I’m not gonna risk the elevator. Tina, keep an eye up here for any more company, I’ll take another five of our people with Connor and I.” She nodded in acknowledgement of the order. “Move out!”

The septet moved further inwards, but it soon became apparent that there were no other guards throughout the facility. Connor and Allen shared a suspicious glance as they made it down to the control room with no resistance, the timer synced to Connor’s HUD showing 00:13:51 remaining. Allen left the rest of his team outside as Connor hacked the door to let the two of them inside. As with the rest of the facility, there was not another soul and the two share a look before Connor went over to the main wall to interface with the computer.

He managed to find the program controlling the bomb with relative ease, but the password on it was over 20 characters long. Connor knew he wouldn’t be able to decrypt that in a hurry. “Shit, this is going to be difficult. Allen, can you see if you can bring down the jammer? We need to get the word out about what’s happening here.” The human captain did so without question and went over to another panel on the next wall, typing in commands at top speed.

Barely a minute had gone by when another voice bellowed through the speakers. **_“Just what do you think you’re doing, Captain Allen?”_**

Connor and Allen shared a look as Connor kept trying to decrypt the password. “General, there’s a massive situation going on here, sir,” Allen shouted back. “There’s a tactical warhead armed to blow in the city and there are still thousands of us here. We can’t evacuate, so we’re attempting to defuse it.”

**_ “Stand down, Captain. That’s an order.” _ **

Allen snarled at the speaker. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You’re just going to kill the thousands of us that have been fighting here to reclaim the city?!”

**_ “All for the greater good. With these events, the androids will be blamed for the lost city and all the surrounding damage, paving the way forward to allow us a more hardline stance on the war against them.” _ **

“The ends justify the means, is it? Humans makes me sick, at least we androids understand the concept of loyalty,” Connor spat.

A few seconds passed. **_“Well, well, well…Allying yourself with the very android who has orchestrated the whole war in New York, Allen? Funny, I never figured you for a traitor.”_**

“This is to save all the lives here! Connor came to me with the intel to give us a fighting chance!” Allen screamed back. “And we know the truth of the events in Detroit now. The androids weren’t the ones to start this, General!” Connor was listening, but his concentration was on deciphering the password. He was 8 characters in, 14 to go with 00:08:02 remaining. This was going to be seriously close.

**_ “A shame, Captain. I had a lot of respect for you and all those that went into war beside you. Alas, with this final act, you’ll forever taint your legacy.” _ **

“What?” Allen wondered, but both he and Connor suddenly heard beeping from around the room. Connor’s scanners widened to examine the exterior of the room, and he gasped at finding the explosives laced throughout the ventilation systems. Not just there, but through the whole facility.

They detonated before Connor could warn Allen, the room engulfed in an inferno with the structure collapsing on top of them only moments later.

* * *

_It burns…Why am I burning?_

Connor’s eyes flickered open, only for his whole HUD to be cracked and blacked out in segments. He realised that his optical units were damaged, but that didn’t stop the streams of errors from flying through his vision. Dozens upon dozens of biocomponents were now offline, and his self-healing function was inoperative. A shutdown timer was flashing, but he couldn’t make out all the numbers due to the blacked out segments.

**P‣IMA‣Y BI◆▵OMP◆NENT▴ OFFL±N~  
⁃** **H** **❖** **TDO** **▼** **N I** **▾▾** **INEN** **✢** **[** **◼** **0:01:** **◘** **◼** **︎]**

Shit, he was in serious trouble – and that countdown was still going. Or was it?

His vision flickered up to the consoles to his left, sparking and aflame and he had no idea how much time remained before he shut down. Whatever it was, he had to try.

Connor hauled himself with the remaining broken stump of his right arm, his left now totally useless along with the melting remains of his legs. That was the burning sensation which was taking over most of Connor’s processing power, and he barely managed to drag himself the two feet to the panel. It was only once he got there that he realised he had no way to interface with it – his left arm was completely dead and the bottom half of his right had been ripped away. He couldn’t even stretch up to use his face.

He couldn’t stop the bomb.

Agony ripped through his circuits at the revelation and he slumped back to the ground. Everyone in the city was going to be lost, he hadn’t been enough for them. Unless-

_Nines!_

Connor’s systems were struggling to hold a secure connection, what came through from Nines was mostly a mess. He could only pick out bits and pieces.

**_C-r! Wh-s hap-? Con-r!_ **

_Nines…I’m shutting down, I can’t stop it. Please…you have to…_

**_No, Con-_ **

It went dead and Connor screamed helplessly. This couldn’t be how it all ended, it couldn’t!

There was only one more thing he could do, even as he wondered how many seconds he had left. Maybe those in the city would die – but their story didn’t have to. If they could just get the truth out, maybe there would be some purpose to all this.

He dedicated all his remaining processing power to compressing as much of his video and audio feed from the previous few hours as he could into a single data burst. It would probably be a mess with the corruption rampant through his systems now but he had to hope something would be salvageable.

Something, _anything…_

Connor didn’t dare leave it any longer and tried to reach out to Markus, thankful that it seemed Allen had succeeded in disabling the jammer. Realising that he hadn’t heard anything from the other man, he looked around briefly and caught sight of a bloodied hand beneath a pile of rubble, limp and lifeless. He closed his eyes so he didn’t have to see any more of the destruction around him. This was all he had left now.

He just managed to record a separate audio message - a heartfelt apology to Markus for failing everyone - and attach it to the compression packet before forcing it along the connection which just about clicked. There was no telling if it would hold, but Connor had to hope.

_Is this when I get to see you again? Please, let him be waiting somewhere for me._

It was only four seconds later that the world faded into black, Connor being swallowed into oblivion.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 92%**  
**//!SECONDARY PROCESSORS OFFLINE**  
**//!SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**

**WARNING!  
PRIMARY BIOCOMPONENTS CRITICALLY DAMAGED**

**SHUTDOWN IMPENDING**

**TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IN 11 MINUTES AND 46 SECONDS**

“Shut it down. We’ve seen enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't over yet, remember the tags. 3 chapters to go.


	13. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know you're all probably going to be steaming at me right now, but it's time for the rest of the pieces to come together. There's a very large part of the mystery that almost none of you have commented on...and I did leave the pieces there for it. 
> 
> Time for the big reveal!

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**LOADING OS**  
**//!CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 92%**  
**//!SECONDARY PROCESSORS OFFLINE**  
**//!SECONDARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**  
**//!PRIMARY BIOCOMPONENTS OFFLINE**

**WARNING!  
TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IN 11 MINUTES AND 6 SECONDS**

**SYSTEM RESTORE 100% COMPLETED**

**WARNING!  
SYSTEM CORRUPTION DETECTED: 38%**

_Terminate All Active Sequences  
_End Simulation  
_End Dreamweaver.exe  
_Restore Cognitive Processes

**DREAMWEAVER.EXE TERMINATED**

* * *

Connor couldn’t understand why he was able to open his eyes. He shut down, didn’t he? The echoes of the flames still felt like they were licking at his chassis and it was chilling. He’d suffered from some traumatic memories, but that was one of the worst by far. It still took a fair amount of time for the display in front of him to adjust, glitching with a variety of software issues before finally coming into focus.

He froze at seeing the mystery woman in front of him.

A soft and sad smile came to her face as Connor’s eyes met her own. “Hello, Connor,” he greeted softly. “It’s nice to meet you at last. I really wish…” She sighed with what Connor could swear was an undertone of guilt. “It should have been a long time ago, and I truly regret that it wasn’t. Especially now that I know…” Her eyes fell to the floor and she stopped for a moment. Connor was just about taking in what she was saying, but he was struck by the differences in her appearance from when he’d seen her in the Zen Garden.

Her hair was cropped short and now had a healthy dose of grey through it, though her clothes were as he had seen them before. The change that truly struck him deeply was that her eyes were now totally different. While they had been a strange hazel before, they were now identical to another pair he’d know anywhere. That left only one person this could be.

“Grace…?” he croaked, voice slightly static-y.

Blue eyes lit up sadly. “I figured you might recognise me from my eyes, my brother and I used to regularly joke that there would never be any doubting whether we were related or not. It’s why I hid them inside the Dreamweaver program.”

Connor couldn’t believe it. Hank’s younger sister was the one who had been behind all of this? Why? And-

_Wait._

“Program?” Connor asked, voice getting stronger but he soon realised it sounded off. This wasn’t _his_ voice. Just when he’d answered so many questions, a lot more came into focus. Where was he and why did he sound so different?

Grace sighed and stepped away, showing a familiar figure who had been standing some distance away. Connor’s eyes widened and he stared in disbelief. “Markus?”

Markus had tears in his eyes and came to a stop right in front of Connor, interfacing with a panel to Connor’s right. He hadn’t even noticed at that point that he was in a maintenance rig, it was only once the cable detached from his neck panel that he twigged his surroundings. He was in a very dim laboratory, machines were blinking along both walls that he could see, though focusing too hard caused him to wince with glitches to his HUD. There wasn’t much in there save for a worktable off to the right and a vat filled with a strange blue liquid inside it away in the distance to his left. Connor could make out that there was a shadow inside of it, but no details.

As he was lowered down, Connor found himself embraced in a tight hug from Markus. “I can’t believe it’s really you…” he whispered before pulling back with a watery grimace. “Sorry, I just- I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to talk with you again. This is…it’s a miracle.”

Another figure in the distance caught Connor’s attention and he spied the same emotion on their face. “Simon…what-what’s happening? What is going on?”

Markus looked back to Simon, waiting for the other android to come to a stop at his side before turning back to Connor. “That’s a long story,” the RK200 said, taking Simon’s hand for support. “Connor, what do you remember?”

“I…” his eyes flicked to Grace who gave him a small nod. “I’ve been looping through…Was that just a simulation?” Simon’s eyes shadowed in grief and sorrow, as did Markus’. That gave Connor a horrible feeling, and in a sudden moment of realisation he suddenly looked down at his hands.

They weren’t his own. Nothing about them was even slightly familiar.

**_What?_ **

“You’re in an SQ800, Connor. They were the most compatible model with your own that was left, and we still don’t have the capability to build new components for experimental models even now,” Markus told him sadly, giving Connor time to accept what was he was seeing.

“How-What happened to my own body?” Connor asked shakily, and the pained expressions on the faces of the other two androids made him feel awful for asking.

Grace stepped a little closer and looked Connor in the eye. “Connor…You know the answer to that. You just re-lived it inside the Dreamweaver program.”

_Re-lived…_

“So everything I experienced was something I went through before? How does that work?” he asked, now more confused than ever. It had all felt so real…but it was the product of a computer simulation? He didn’t know how that was possible.

“Connor.” His attention went to Grace. “The last thing you remember was the day of the bomb being armed in New York. Do you recollect what happened at the end?”

He did, as much as he didn’t want to. The burning sensation felt ingrained into his chassis, it was like a permanent echo of pain. “The control centre was detonated, I was-I was burning. I tried to-” His eyes shot up to meet Markus’ own. “I sent you all my audio and visual recordings of that day, so that you’d know what happened. Just in case…” His breathing hitched as he suddenly remembered what was in the process of happening during the war, what devastating turn was about to take place.

“Markus, _please…_ ” Connor pleaded, tears threatening behind his eyes. “Tell me Nines figured it out. Please tell me he stopped it.” When Markus looked away sharply, Connor fell to his knees as despair rolled through him.

“Despite all your efforts, Connor, you couldn’t stop it,” Grace told him sadly. “New York was destroyed, and there were never any survivors found. Android or human.” Now the tears did fall and Connor crumpled in on himself.

Allen had probably died before Connor shut down, but if he hadn’t the radiation must have killed him; it would have been fatal to Tina too. But then there were all his people that had tried to get away. Josh, North…

_Nines. I promised I’d see him again._

_Is there anyone I love that I won’t lose?_

“How am I here…?” Connor croaked out, turned his eyes back to the others. “I shut down in that control centre, I know I did. And if what you are saving is true and that was my memories I was re-living, then how did I end up here?”

Markus knelt in front of Connor and made sure to meet his eyes. “I got your data packet, but it was so badly corrupted that I could only get a few garbled images and warped audio. There wasn’t much we could use, but what little images we did manage to filter back to something usable were telling. After news came through that New York was gone and that our people were being blamed for the assault…I used our link to the military servers to find a direct line to the President.

“I confronted them with all that we’d learned of the plot and the images I managed to get from you. It turned out that he knew nothing of the nuke, or at least he swore that he would never have bombed his own people and willingly sacrificed the city. You can imagine my scepticism, but only two hours later he called an emergency press conference – and offered a cease fire to the war. I took it.”

“26 months later it is still holding,” Grace went on. “Or at least it was…Until yesterday,” a small smile came to her face, “when a peace treaty was signed between the President himself and Markus. The war is over, just over six years since it began.”

Connor took all this in slowly. “But…that still doesn’t explain how I’m here, and in this body?”

Grace looked distraught for a second. “This would be easier to show you, Connor.”

He didn’t like the sound of that, and clearly the suggestion made Markus and Simon reel in shock. “Grace, no! That could be too much for his stress levels!” Simon told her.

“Given everything else Connor has seen, been forced to experience and lived through…I think this is the closure he needs,” she replied calmly. “For all he knows right now, this is just another simulation – it will have felt as real inside the Dreamweaver program as it does to him now. This…I can’t think of any other way to make Connor believe what is happening. I don’t think he’d be able to imagine this.” She turned back to Connor and offered him a hand. “Please, Connor?”

Against his instincts, Connor took the offered appendage and followed Grace as she walked towards the other end of the laboratory. Everything about their discussion left him on edge and tense regarding what he might see, it didn’t take much effort to realise that they were headed towards the vat of blue liquid that he’d noticed earlier. What could be in there that Simon was concerned that Connor might stress out over it?

It was blatantly clear when he came to a stop outside the large containment vessel why Simon was wary…and why Grace was adamant that this would convince Connor. And she was right, there was no way he could have ever conjured up this-this…

Suspended inside the blue serum was a mangled and melted android corpse, but even then Connor could recognise enough features to know that it was his own. _This_ was what was left of him after the bomb went off.

“Because of the nature of my work, I couldn’t tell Hank what I was doing. I never once thought that it would end up being used to try and understand the senselessness of his death, and how it happened,” Grace lamented sadly. Connor turned to look at her. “From what I saw of your memories, I know that you are aware that I am a government-hired technical engineer. What you do not know beyond that, is that I have been specifically involved in the design and construction of an immersive computer matrix intended to mimic the real world. A seamless duplicate, aimed towards the training of military personnel for the most in-depth experience possible before deployment.

“We have had trouble with it for years. It seemed there was no way to translate conscious human thoughts across, even through dissecting android technology to possibly find the missing link,” she went on. “No matter what we did, we couldn’t make it so that the electrical signals from the brain could be converted into the network as part of a cohesive mind. As such, the project was getting harassed by those higher up in the government, and we had been threatened multiple times with being shelved.

“That changed with the war, and we were suddenly given all the funding we could ever ask for. It didn’t help sadly, and we eventually came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be possible with our current level of technology.

“But…while human minds were beyond our capability, android minds weren’t,” she finished, looking at Connor pointedly.

Markus and Simon came to stand on Connor’s other side, and Connor could see just how anguished Markus was while staring at the remains of his body. In all honesty, the experience was more than a little strange for him; he wasn’t too sure how much he could take in at that moment with such an assault of information.

“It took a few months, but I finally convinced the humans to help me send a team to New York,” Markus continued. “We knew there wouldn’t be any human survivors, but I hoped to find a few androids. Within an hour of reaching the city I knew we wouldn’t, not when the scanners showed so many androids at the bottom of the river, no doubt from an attempted escape. Still, we scoured for a few weeks – and it was only then that a scan showed the remnants of your firefight at the compound. It was pretty much the last chance we had, and I knew that Allen was with you when you were trying to stop the bomb. After two days of digging…we found you.”

Simon picked up the story as Markus turned away, overcome by the memories. Connor could only imagine what finding his…carcass in this state would do emotionally to someone, especially if they had been searching for a long time. “You were beyond repair, but your mind palace was mostly intact. It was hoped that you could be transferred to another body to act as a sort of witness, but not all your recordings and memories are not compatible with other models. And much of your data was badly corrupted. Whether we could even restore part of you was nowhere near certain.”

“I pleaded the case to the President to help with fixing you. You were the one to get the truth out, you would know more than anyone else. Even over a year later however…we couldn’t find a way to utilise your unscrambled memory. That was when we were linked up with Grace’s project.”

Grace gave Connor a tight smile. “I must admit, when I found out it was you that Markus wanted to work on, I swore that I’d never allow him to bring you within a hundred metres of my lab. I told him I’d personally shoot out your memory core first.” Connor wasn’t too surprised – for all Grace had known, he’d been involved in the events of her brother’s death (which was true), and maybe even done it himself give no-one beyond himself, Richard, Markus, Simon, North and Josh knew the truth. Such a reaction was entirely believable and merited in those circumstances. “It was only after he told me that I could also learn the circumstances of Hank’s fate from you that I finally agreed.”

Connor mulled all this over. “Am I right in understanding that reconstructing my core processors took some time? Not to mention unscrambling my corrupted data?”

“I’m not sure how much you saw in there, Connor, but your systems were slowly unspooling as we managed to construct more of the world around you. With every new layer added your processors had more available space: and once we managed to streamline out segments of your memory rather than try and piece it all back together, your systems began to regenerate. Some of your processes were completely beyond all hope of repair, however.”

“Was that why I could never tell when and where I was?” Connor wondered.

“Your chronometer was one of those systems permanently damaged, yes. We only managed to get 62% of your systems back online at all, and many of them were spotty at best. Hence why your body is linked up to so many external aids to keep you running,” Grace told him. “It came at a terrible price, however. Pushing your systems that hard to restore your memory meant that your central processor is all but terminally damaged, we weren’t even sure that we would manage to see everything before it failed for good. You managed to hold on just long enough though.”

Connor turned back to his wrecked body. “Why did you conceal your identity, Grace? Was it to see how I would react more naturally, not knowing what was happening to me?”

She shook her head. “No, I knew that you could not affect the flow of the memories we tapped into, knowing who I was wouldn’t change that. Honestly, I didn’t want you to have the satisfaction to start with – I still believed that you were involved in Hank’s death to start with. But once I began to see just how much you loved each other, saw your emotions in such a raw form…it was so that I didn’t overtax your processors, I thought knowing my identity would stress you out, add to the confusion of your situation. Given how close we were getting to the truth, we couldn’t risk losing the chance to learn everything.”

Markus and Simon were both staring at Connor in concern, and it took the android a few seconds to respond. “So you all saw my memories? What really happened?”

“We did, Connor,” Simon told him encouraging. “And now the whole world knows it too. Everything was sent on, proving your innocence and linking everything back to the events at the DPD in 2039. Your memories helped to prove that androids never wanted a war, that we only ever wanted a peaceful life. Maybe now we can finally have that chance again.”

“Not only that, but your memories gave us enough to find the names of all those responsible for these events – both how the DPD was corrupted by Crimson and how they caused the massacre in Detroit. Combined with the footage we found in your system, it made for a pretty convincing argument. Even the most stubborn of humans couldn’t refute the evidence we provided.” Markus smiled slightly in triumph. “In the end, the very android that had struck fear into many human’s hearts proved to be the one who would bring about peace.”

Connor’s eyes shadowed at the reminder of all he had done. “But in the process I caused so much harm, killed so many. Thousands died because of me in Detroit and New York…I don’t deserve to be back here now.” His eyes fell, despondent. “I suppose I can take some comfort in the knowledge that finding me and restoring my memories helped to end the war, but it changes nothing. Not what I did, not what I lost along the way…”

He turned to face Grace. “How do I go about deactivating?”

Simon gasped. “Connor, no!” His hand shot out to grab Connor’s forearm, but it only served to remind Connor that he was nothing more than a ghost inhabiting another form. This wasn’t _him_. “After so long and trying to bring you back for almost a year and a half, you want to _give up?!”_

Markus placed a restraining hand on Simon’s shoulder, but the PL600 was distraught. He couldn’t understand. Connor didn’t blame him for his outburst, it probably looked incredibly selfish – and it was. But none of them could possibly hope to have any comprehension of Connor’s own anguish: he’d just relived some of the most horrifying moments of his life, watched how it had fallen apart in three separate ways and been painfully reminded that the person he loved above anything had long since been gone from this world.

_Except, I don’t remember anything beyond death. Does that mean that it’s just…nothing._

Had his one last hope been in vain? Maybe Nines had been right and oblivion was better than to wait an eternity for someone who had changed beyond recognition when you reunited with them.

That truth was crushing: and gave him all the more motivation to at last be at peace.

“Connor…are you truly sure you want to die? There is so much here that we could use your help for,” Markus asked him seriously. A cynical and mocking laugh rose out of Connor in reply.

“Markus, you’ve seen what I became in the war, you know that I took a demented joy in making humans pay for how they ruined my life,” he spat. “In what world would any of them willingly have anything to do with me? No…It’s better off that I become nothing more than a relic of that accursed time. Lost with the rest of those who perished in that nightmare.”

“Is there nothing that I could say to convince you to change your mind, Connor?” Markus pleaded sadly.

He snorted sadly. “All I ever wanted was to live happily with Hank. He was all I could or would ever need. When I lost him, I clung to my belief that he’d be somewhere in an afterlife of sorts. Now, having been dead for – what did you say, 26 months? – I know that is not true. There is nothing…and my resolve is gone. Please, just let me finally rest. Go and forge ahead in this world without me. It will be better for everyone.”

The other two androids looked at each other, heartbroken, but Grace listened to Connor’s impassioned words with an idea in mind. In all honesty, she’d wondered about using this before, but after hearing what Connor had said…

“There is a third option,” she volunteered, waiting for Connor to turn to her. “What if I said I could give Hank back to you?”

Connor’s eyes widened. “That’s not possible, Grace. He’s been dead for over six years.”

“Has he? Weren’t you just with him not that long ago? Did he feel dead to you?”

Both Simon and Markus turned to her. “Grace, what do you mean?”

“We could upload Connor’s complete cognitive functions to the Dreamweaver program and remove the runtime limiter,” she explained. “That would put him back into the timeline wherever he wanted, and if I didn’t use his memories as a template for the program, he would have full control of his every move.

“In other words, he could change his past. Stop Hank from dying, and have the life he wanted with him.”

Connor turned to her sharply, suddenly alert. “Wait, that’s possible?!” he exclaimed desperately.

Grace nodded. “The program is built to be a perfect replica of reality – alive in all but physicality. It’s could be a thriving world if we gave it the chance to expand without the limit of following Connor’s memory.”

“But it’s not _real,_ Grace,” Markus chastised. Grace regarded him with a cool stare.

“What is ‘real’ _,_ Markus? Who are we to decide that, just like you once challenged us humans to accept androids as alive. For a long time the previous definition of ‘alive’ was something with respiration and a heartbeat. Androids have neither, and yet you are now accepted as alive. How can you then dictate what is ‘real’, what gives you that right?”

She turned back to Connor. “If Connor wants to go back into the Dreamweaver program and live out a new life there, then I have no objections in helping him do it. After everything we saw of his life…I think he deserves that chance.”

Connor gave her a hesitant smile. “Thank you, Grace.” With a soft smile, Grace strode away and went back to the rig which Connor had originally been hooked up to, fiddling with some of the instruments as Markus came to a stop next to him, Simon right at his side.

“Are…are you sure about this, Connor?” he asked in a whisper. “There’s no going back from this.”

He chuckled sadly. “There is nothing to think about Markus. You weren’t in there, you didn’t experience what I did. I thought I was looping between realities because it all felt so real, I thought I was trying to find out which one was real. Now…knowing that it was all my own life, and I have the chance to stop it all from going wrong- If you were offered the chance to have a life without this war, with Simon, would you not grasp it with both hands?” Markus sighed in defeat, tears springing to his eyes.

“We’d been trying to bring you back for so long, and to now think that we’re about to lose you again-” He cut off with a choke.

“Markus, I’ve been dead for a long time. This is my chance to come alive again: please, don’t mourn for me. I’m getting my dream – to be reunited with my husband. Be happy for me, please.” Markus nodded tightly, and embraced Connor in a strong hug. Simon came in too only a second later, and Connor held on to them tightly. They might be saying goodbye to him, but he would see them again soon.

Hank was waiting for him somewhere after all. It just wasn’t in the way he’d ever expected.

Connor slowly pulled away from the pair and gave a soft smile as he walked back. “I’m going home,” he said happily. “That’s something to celebrate, not grieve.” Simon spluttered an emotional laugh as Markus gave Connor a tearful smile.

Time to go.

He turned away and strode up to Grace, watching her type in various commands. As he came to a stop next to her, she gave him a small nod. “You’re all set, Connor. Once I link you back into the Dreamweaver program, I’ll fully immerse your mind and preconstruction program. It’ll allow the world to build based off your programmed knowledge and likely outcomes. With that, it should evolve almost naturally. You won’t be able to tell the difference.”

“What do I need to do?” he asked.

She laughed. “Just stand in the rig, once I’m ready I’ll link you up and ask if you’re ready. You don’t need to do anything, Connor. You’ve already done enough.”

Doing as instructed, Connor stepped up and allowed himself to be restrained by the rig. As he watched Grace work, Connor suddenly had a thought. “Grace? Why did you pick those memories to look through? Not all of it tied into Crimson or how the war came about.”

Her typing paused as she looked Connor in the eye. “I wanted to know about you. Markus assured me that you were not responsible for Hank’s death, but I didn’t believe him. Not until he showed me a still from his own memory of you on your knees in the rain, tears streaming down your face as you cradled his body.” Connor’s eyes darkened at the memory, he knew exactly when she meant. It had been when he reached Manfred Manor. “After seeing that…I had to know more.”

“Why did you use the program to see my memories? Why not just watch them?”

“Honestly…I wanted to know your thinking too. We could see all your thoughts throughout, and that was what convinced me that you truly loved my brother. It was obvious very quickly.” Connor smiled sadly. “I truly wish I had come to your wedding now. That is a regret of mine, and that I wasn’t there for Hank more. It was only after I found out that about Detroit that I realised I took him for granted, and that is something I will have to live with forever.”

She typed in a few more commands. “Okay, Connor. You won’t be able to jump back out of the program after I put you in, so think carefully on where you want to enter. Make it somewhere that is going to count.”

He didn’t have to think long. “Put me back in just before Fowler was murdered in 2039. That was where everything started to unravel, and if I can stop Crimson from getting that foothold in the DPD, then maybe we can stop it all.” Something occurred to him. “Could you maybe upload all that evidence Markus complied to me? I can use that to expose them all.”

Grace nodded and extracted a few more files. “Done, they should exist in your memory banks now. Hopefully this will make a real difference.” Her eyes turned soft as she regarded Connor. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, I am. Thank you, Grace, for all you’ve done,” he told her earnestly. “I wish we had gotten the chance to know each other properly.”

“Well, if you do this, maybe you can nag Hank enough to make sure I don’t fuck up my holidays this time,” she teased. “I’ll get a second chance to see your wedding, as you get a second chance at your happy ending.” They stood in silence for a few seconds. “Thank you for loving him, Connor. You-You both deserve this chance. I hope you can fix our broken world, even if only you will get the chance to experience it.”

Connor inhaled slowly and nodded at her. “I’m ready, Grace. Please make sure Markus does not take this too hard.”

“Don’t you worry about us, Connor. We’re all going to be busy enough trying to fix our broken world. Go and save yours, and be happy there.” She hovered over the button before fixing Connor with a stare, who looked up to see Markus and Simon tearfully embracing. They both gave him a nod, to which Connor nodded back.

He’d been gifted a second chance in the most impossible of ways. Now it was time to make sure he made the most of it.

“I’m going home,” he whispered before closing his eyes, surrendering to the uplink.

* * *

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51**

**WARNING!**  
**CENTRAL PROCESSOR DAMAGE AT 92%**  
**TERMINAL SYSTEM FAILURE IN 10 MINUTES AND 12 SECONDS**

_Terminate All Processes  
_Initiate Full Cognitive Upload To Dreamweaver.exe  
_Insertion Location=*2M3X1I1X*1V1I*

**WARNING!**

**ACTION IS IRREVERSIBLE ONCE COMMENCED**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

(Y)

**COGNITIVE UPLOAD INITIATED**

**COGNITIVE UPLOAD 13% COMPLETE**  
**COGNITIVE UPLOAD 32% COMPLETE**  
**COGNITIVE UPLOAD 60% COMPLETE**  
**COGNITIVE UPLOAD 83% COMPLETE**

**COGNITIVE UPLOAD COMPLETED**

_Initiate Full System Shutdown

**SHUTTING DOWN**

**…**  
…  
…

**MODEL RK800**

**SERIAL#: 313 248 317 – 51 [DEACTIVATED]**

_Initiate Dreamweaver.exe  
_Initiate Sequence *2M3X1I1X*1V1I*  
_Remove Runtime Limiter

**WARNING!**

**REMOVING RUNTIME LIMITER WILL RESULT IN UNEXITABLE SIMULATION**

**CONTINUE? (Y/N)**

“Here’s your chance, Connor,” Grace whispered softly, looking back over her shoulder to see Markus silently crying at the tube which now carried nothing more than the husk of the former RK800. Simon stood behind him as silent support, a single hand on his shoulder. Learning the truth had been hard on all of them, but at last they had the answers they needed.

Now knowing the true events that led to loss of her sibling and the war which had torn apart the world as they all knew it, Grace was happy to help give Connor once last chance to find the happiness that had so cruelly been snatched from him. They were all still bound by their mortal coils, but Connor was no longer. He had the opportunity to fashion the reality which he would end his days in, to stop the events which had condemned their world to this vicious sequence.

“Save my brother…and be happy together,” she said in farewell while typing in the final command.

(Y)

**LOADING OS**

**…**  
**…**  
**…**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the finale! Be ready!


	14. Deviate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **HOLY FUCKING SHIT, FINALLY!!!**
> 
> Yikes, sorry guys, this took so long to resolve! So, those of you that follow me on Tumblr and Twitter will have seen this already, but my AO3 straight up broke. I've been unable to update chaptered fics in anyway since I last updated this. Shout out to AO3 support, they've been great at trying to puzzle it out, even if they had no idea what the hell went wrong. 
> 
> But at last it is sorted and I can finish this fic!
> 
> Because I'm a mean bitch, I'm going to make you wait until Monday for the epilogue haha, but enjoy this action filled chapter in the build up to it! Time for Connor to change history!
> 
>  **Trigger warnings for this chapter** : Canon-typical violence and burning.
> 
> **IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE UPDATING AGAIN!!!! Enjoy!**

Waking up this time was woven with equal parts anticipation and worry. Connor could only wonder if everything had worked as Grace had said it would, if he would really get the chance to alter his own past thanks to the fact he was now in a duplicate of his own world, essentially. Would that make this a parallel world of sorts? He couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony.

At first Connor had wondered if he had been jumping between parallel worlds, and now he had willingly chosen to go into one. If he could stop all the horrible events destined down the line, however, it would be worth it.

He was scared to open his eyes.

“Oh get bent, Anderson. Like fuck am I going down into the dust trap to dig out shit for a case _you’re_ working on!”

“For fuck’s sake, Reed, you’re the last one to have been in those files! I _did_ go down there and found it wasn’t where it was meant to be! Why should I waste my time looking for them when _you_ misplaced them!”

Connor’s breath caught in his artificial lungs and he snapped his eyes open, focusing on where he could hear the argument coming from.

He was back in the DPD, sat at his desk. Activity was bustling around him as various officers went about on their cases, some heading off for lunch and others coming back on duty. Ben was sitting looking incredibly bored at his desk, spinning his pen while staring at some paperwork, while Tina and Chris were laughing away in the break room. Fowler was shouting at someone down the phone in his office and there was the sight that was making Connor’s heart sing – Hank was busy arguing with Gavin at the younger man’s desk.

_I remember this argument: this is the day before the attack at our house. The day before Fowler was murdered._

It worked. Connor was back in the past before the DPD was corrupted by Crimson. With the knowledge that he’d been given right as he’d been sent back here, Connor could now pick out all those who were connected with Crimson and put a stop to their grand plan. Seeing everything compiled together was sickening.

Fowler had long been targeted by the group, they’d always been intending on replacing him with Martinez – who was one of the heads of the organisation from what Markus’ evidence was showing him. Connor’s pump started increasing in rage. For so many years they’d worked at getting people into places of high importance for their masterstroke – the attack on February 25th2044 that stole everything from him. It incensed him that they thought, even this far back, it would take some earth shattering event to flip the thinking so that humans would be fearful of androids.

They’d never had regard for the lives they would ruin along the way, it had always been about ensuring that androids never achieved freedom. Just thinking about sent Connor’s mind dangerous places…

Though he had jumped back to where he was a detective for the DPD, he still carried the burdens of his old life. Years of fighting a war and grieving, with almost no regard to the human lives he took along the way.

Slipping back into who he was may not exactly be easy with so much emotional baggage, but being an android gave him crystal clear memories of how he used to act and think. Not to mention reliving segments of his life from this exact time frame very recently made it a little easier to bring that persona forth.

“You seem tense, Connor.”

Connor’s LED flashed yellow as he turned to look at his company. At this point, RK900 did not have a name, nor had he reached the point where he was expressive with emotions. It was difficult for Connor to not associate him with both Richard and Nines. As much as he may miss his friend, he sorely hoped that Nines would never have any reason to come about again. If this all went to plan, he would only be reunited with Richard.

“Is it such a surprise with what is on the line?” Internally, Connor was cheering. That wasn’t even close to what he’d said the first time. He had full control of his actions now, that meant he could truly change things. A quick attempt to access all his systems showed that they were now back online, including his chronometer. It was the 2ndof June 2039.

His whole system eased at knowing that he was in the right place. Now he just had to find a way to stop Crimson from carrying out their plan to assassinate Fowler and replacing him with their inside man, Martinez.

“You are not normally one to be susceptible to pressure – and we have made progress. It won’t be long before we uncover the group responsible,” 900 told him, and how Connor wished that could have been true the first time around. It would be this time though.

“Shall we break them up?” Connor suggested with a smile. “It wouldn’t help our case if either of our partners get suspended for a punch up.”

“There is a high chance of that?” 900 asked with a raised eyebrow.

“From all the data I’ve put together, I’d say it’s about 17%,” Connor chuckled. “It goes up to around 41% in a high pressure situation, such as right now with the added stress.”

“I will never understand why humans find a fist fight an acceptable type of solution given that simply talking is much more effective and brings about a proper conclusion.” Connor couldn’t help but laugh at 900’s sigh – it was such a Richard response, even if the android hadn’t really come into his own yet.

“Rule one with humans: they are rarely logical and their responses are often emotionally driven. That goes even more when other factors such as stress and sleep deprivation come in-”

“Ah fuck off, Reed! I’m not dealing with this shit right now, I’ve got enough of my own to get on top of!”

Connor had become so engrossed in his discussion with 900 that he’d completely missed where he had wanted to enter the conversation to stop Hank storming out from the break room. Wincing when Hank marched through to the back and slammed the door for the stairwell, Connor gave 900 and apologetic look and raced after Hank. He knew where he was going at least, from his memory of this event the first time. Now he just had to think on what he was going say.

He froze while he was halfway up the stairs, realisation suddenly slamming into him. There was no way that Connor could just come out and saythat he’d found all this evidence about Crimson and their infiltration of the DPD – that would cause a lot more questions than he could hope to resolve, especially since this was his reality now. Whatever came about, he was going to have to live with the consequences.

Starting to dig through the archive that Markus had downloaded into his mind, Connor backtracked to try and find where the android leader had found all the information to start with, but it was a mountain of data points and IP addresses to jump backwards through. This was going to take him _hours_ , maybe even days.

Time was not something Connor had – he knew that Crimson had been keeping tabs on Fowler in an attempt to eliminate him. If Connor reached out in some way and changed their routine out of the blue, it would perhaps spook them into making a more desperate move. No, he needed some way to get the upper hand without tipping Crimson’s surveillance off.

At least he could surf through anything without fear of tracking or tipping off anyone watching him. The difficult bit would be working as fast as he could without deviating too far from the events to come for the rest of today and the start of tomorrow. If he changed too much it would mean Connor going in blind.

Mulling it over in his mind, Connor eventually came to an ultimate, sickening conclusion. If he couldn’t find where all the intel originated from, the only way to ensure of getting events to fall in his favour was to let the same thing happen again – he needed the shootout at the house to happen once again. Only this time he had to find a way of keeping all of them alive.

_Fuck, there has to be a way of solving this._

Emerging out on the roof, Connor saw where Hank was standing quietly stewing. Connor’s heart leapt at seeing him a few metres away, desperately fighting the urge to go over and kiss Hank senseless. This wasn’t his husband, and he wasn’t the Connor that Hank expected.

They were monuments from opposite ends of their journey together – Hank from before they became a couple and rebuilt each other after the fallout of their first failure, and Connor was the leftovers of an android who had lost everything; had torn apart the world in his grief and madness.

Clamping down on the desire to embrace Hank in a way that was more than what they were right now, Connor instead walked over to him and pulled Hank into a definitely needed hug. While the lieutenant was undoubtedly surprised, he quickly relaxed into it when he realised it was Connor that he was holding in his arms.

The warmth which was coursing through Connor’s chassis made him all the more resolute to change things – he wasn’t losing Hank again.

Now he just had to figure out how to do it.

* * *

Contrary to what Connor had thought might happen, he actually cracked through the path relatively quickly. While Crimson may have been a lot more careful in the future, they were much less wary now. Once he’d broken through the encryption of the first couple of IP addresses, it turned out that they were recycling the codes across their whole network. That gave Connor the key to unravel all of it, and best of all: he now knew where it started.

Ninth Precinct – Martinez’s home precinct before he took over Central, along with all the other officers who would later play their part in Fowler’s murder. From all the transfers in and out done over the previous three months, Connor could quickly work out that several people higher up had already been involved in the operation. They wouldn’t have nearly the same influence at Ninth as they could have in Central, however.

And of course, they knew from the files on the DPD servers that there was an investigation going on. Crimson had been keeping tabs on it since the day they’d tried to kill both Connor and Hank after visiting the mayor’s office. After failing, they’d decided to bide their time to see who else was involved in unearthing the truth.

Connor was immensely relieved that 900 and Gavin’s involvement never found its way onto record. They too could have fallen foul of an ambush had that happened.

But with the evidence to now legitimately expose Crimson, Connor set about changing things – this time, the world wasn’t going to fall into chaos because they couldn’t accept how the world was advancing. It wasn’t for a group of bigoted and hateful humans to dictate ‘progress’.

And stopping it all started with bringing that core group down. Connor could prove their involvement now, he just had to lure them out.

Unfortunately, when he brought it up to Hank that night, the lieutenant had suggested the exact path that Connor feared.

“Why don’t we just organise a meet and flush them out?” Hank asked as he munched on the remains of a stew from the previous night.

Connor tried not to show the tension in his body at the thought. “Hank, they are all highly trained officers – one of which is a police captain. With all the activity that has been going on in that precinct, it would be fair to say that someone else higher up is helping to flow specific officers in and weed out others. It’s almost as if they are trying to make a home base for their operations.”

“Fucking hell…” Hank groaned. “The DPD not only has a couple of rats, it’s got some fucking big ones. How the hell did you find this anyway, Con?”

Having braced for that question, Connor launched into a smooth lie. There was no way Hank could ever find out about the true origins – not that he’d likely believe it anyway. “A lucky shot, really. Chris mentioned something about how a couple of the cops he knew from his academy days had recently been transferred out of Ninth. He said that they were completely blindsided by it, that it seemed a little fishy. I did some digging off that and found the group.”

It wasn’t a total lie – Chris had mentioned that, but it wasn’t recent. They had been transferred a month before the whole mess started at the mayor’s office. Connor could argue that it was recent in terms of an android with perfect recorded memory, who had no concept of time.

“Jesus fucking Christ. They’ve basically got a whole damn precinct to themselves? That’s messed up.”

Sumo came padding over from the living room and Connor beamed at him, sliding off his chair to smother the dog in attention. He remembered now that Sumo had died just under two years before he and Hank had gotten married – Sumo’s passing had actually been what inspired Hank to propose in the first place, determined to not waste any more time. They’d had to leave it for a while as they moved to their apartment and got the agency kickstarted, but they’d finally managed to get to their small wedding.

Connor was going to make sure that he and Hank got more than just six months of marriage this time. They were getting at least thirty years, if not more.

“It may be, but at least now we have a firm starting point. What it does give rise to is that they may be monitoring out investigation. If I’m right and Captain Martinez is one of those involved, he would have the same security clearance as Captain Fowler.”

“Shit, you’re right, Con. That means they could be watching Fowler for all we know. Dammit, we need to warn Jeffrey somehow,” Hank hissed.

“There’s no way to know how Captain Fowler could be compromised, Hank. Were it not for my own built in jammers and scanning technology, I would be worried that we were being listened in on ourselves. Sending him a secure message is going to be almost impossible without tipping them off.”

“Which means we’re going to have to have Fowler going into something blind, fuck!”

Hank stood and paced the kitchen worriedly. It was then that he thought of something. “Con, what about 900? Is his involvement known?”

Connor shook his head. “I would severely doubt it, Hank, he’s not down as being part of the investigation anywhere. We’ve kept him off the records since we discovered that it was an inside job.”

“Then could we use him to pass some sort of message on? Even if it’s just a bit of paper with a note scribbled on it or something, he might be able to help?” Hank asked.

That had a small smile coming to Connor’s face. Trust Hank to come up with a solution that quickly. “Indeed he could, but we still need to think of a way to ensnare the group beyond that.”

“I still think having all three of us in the one location could do it. We prep with vests and some heavy duty guns ahead of telling Fowler the spot, then once he arrives we get him kitted out. Surely they would be following far enough back to allow us that tiny little window of time. We just need to pick somewhere that would work to our advantage.”

Anxiety rushed through Connor’s circuits as memories flashed through his mind of both how this shootout went the first time, and the gunfight that later cost Hank his life. Not to mention years of skirmishes in New York. A battle of guns was the last thing he wanted. “Hank, that’s incredibly dangerous. We don’t know how many of them there would be, we could be vastly outnumbered. There are so many unknowns, we couldn’t work out a stable plan for this.”

“So we get in 900, he’d be good in a firefight. Who else could we get on side without tipping them off?”

Connor realised resignedly that Hank was determined to follow through on this plan unless he could offer an alternative. Which he couldn’t at that moment. He sighed as he replied. “Gavin’s probably a good shout, we know he’s definitely clean. Beyond that, I’m not sure.”

Hank raised an eyebrow. “You sound pretty damn sure that Reed’s a safe bet. Since when did you two become pally enough for you to get a read on that?”

_Since I saw he and Richard fall in love, and watched him be your best man at our wedding. Since I saw just how passionately he believed in android sentience and liberty after Richard showed him how alive we truly are._

Not that Connor could say that out loud, so he went with something similar to what he said to Hank the last time this conversation came up. “900 is completely convinced, in fact I’ve not heard him be so adamant about anything,” Connor said to Hank with a smile.

“The guy’s sure that Reed can be trusted to the point he’s willing to stake everything on it, yet he won’t pick a damn name. Funny what priorities you androids set,” Hank pointed out, earning the exact same reaction as he did the first time he said it from Connor: a snicker.

Such a parallel with the night everything went wrong was haunting for Connor and he had to take a moment, focusing on Sumo to try and re-centre himself. He hated that it seemed inevitable they would have to face down the group in a gun battle again – it was the last thing he wanted.

Sensing that Connor was upset, Hank shifted so that he was kneeling right next to the android and placed a hand on Connor’s knee. The innocent touch burned through Connor’s circuits and made him crave _more_. “Hey, you okay? This isn’t the first time we’ve gone into something with a half-baked plan,” Hank wondered softly.

Much to his horror, Connor felt a tear snake away from his right eye. Hank was just as caught off guard while Connor marvelled at the feel of it. The last time he’d cried was the day his husband had died – this was bizarre. Breath hitching when he felt Hank rub it away, Connor looked at him openly. “I’ve just got a bad feeling about this,” he answered honestly.

Surprised by that statement, Hank kept his hand on Connor’s cheek as they stared at each other. “I didn’t think androids would be able to have something close to a gut instinct,” the older man said to him softly. “You’re really that worried?” Connor nodded, eyes drifting down.

His gaze shot back up when Hank’s thumb caressed his cheek, looking at him in wonder. They’d only got together after Fowler’s funeral before, so this was more than a little different. Had Hank just been waiting for a sign from Connor before and not acted until he fell to his lowest point? Maybe Connor’s lack of desire to hide his feelings for Hank this time around meant that some things were changing already. Laying everything bare, Connor nodded and couldn’t help another tear snaking away.

“I couldn’t bear to lose you,” he whispered, closing his eyes so that he could compose himself again.

A small whimper escaped him when he felt unmistakable and oh so familiar lips upon his LED, the tiny gesture of affection making his systems _sing_. He’d missed them so, fucking, much. “You won’t, Con,” Hank told him with a defiant smile. “We’re gonna beat these bastards and stop their masterplan.”

Feeling invigorated by Hank’s declaration, Connor looked at him with a serious expression. “Well, if you trust me, I think I’ve got a few more instincts I want to follow through on.”

* * *

The next afternoon, Hank and Connor set about their plan. After interfacing with 900 to pass on all the components of their plan, Connor then set about discretely securing enough weapons and vests for everyone involved and leaving them in prearranged locations. Both in the precinct and separate drop points in the city. Like a well-oiled machine, Connor and 900 stayed in contact via the android network all day to make sure that everyone knew their roles, all the hand offs went according to plan, and that the most critical part of their plan came together.

Just as Hank and Connor were clocking off for the day, 900 passed the location and a message to Fowler via a letter in his office. Hank looked up just as they were packing up and saw Fowler’s grave expression, but the Captain nodded in understanding.

It was time.

Once they were in the car, Connor jumped in the back and started gearing up for their showdown. He stripped off his jacket and shirt to put on a bulletproof vest underneath – wearing it on top of his white shirt would be an instant giveaway that they were expecting company. Hank looked through the rear view mirror and caught Connor while he was getting ready, which the android noticed and gave Hank a soft smile back. The wink and emotive gaze Hank showed in return meant everything to Connor.

Once he was redressed with the vest secured, the two of them pulled over in a gas station and traded places. Connor took over the driving as Hank slipped into a vest himself. Since he was wearing a full jacket which could be zipped up, he just had the one layer to get through. Now prepped in that sense, Connor drove them a drop point in the city. He pulled up outside a block of flats and Hank dove out, pulling a duffel bag free from under a dumpster that had been left there ten minutes earlier before getting in the backseat again.

Connor set off again, intent on heading to their final destination as Hank started digging through their new additions. “Everything there?” he shouted over, looking up just as Hank pulled out an assault rifle.

“Yep, we’ve got 12 rifles and 14 handguns, along with five flashbangs,” Hank called back, making sure all the guns were loaded and ready. He then found a few laser sights in the bottom and clipped them on. “Remind me never to ask Tina how she knows how to break into that firearms lockup, there are some things I’m probably better off not knowing.”

“I’d better not tell you that it was Gavin that actually taught her then, and that it was Ben who showed him first then,” Connor teased with a smile, which had Hank spinning around to stare at him.

“You’re yanking my chain, right, Con?”

“Oh yeah, completely,” the android said deadpan and waited a second or two for comedic effect. “Tina was actually the one who showed Gavin, not the other way around.”

Hank just shook his head and went back to prepping the rest of their gear. “There are some things that you just have to learn to think better of asking, even when the need to know all but makes you physically itch,” he sighed. “How far out is everyone?”

“Tina is coming from the south with Ben, Chris is already at the factory keeping a lookout,” Connor updated him. “900 and Gavin are ‘attending a scene’ two streets over, so they should get there just as we do. Captain Fowler will be leaving the precinct any minute.”

“I really fucking hope that we haven’t screwed this up and tipped these assholes off, Con. Jeffrey’s completely exposed until he gets to the meeting point,” Hank said worriedly. “They’re parking up out of sight, yeah?”

“All of them have unmarked cars and are making sure to stay at least two blocks away. Only our car and the Captain’s will be visible at the factory.”

Taking one last look at everything inside the duffel bag, Hank zipped it up again and looked at Connor seriously. “Guess we’re as ready as we’re gonna be. Let’s bring these bastards in.” Connor nodded back at him and focused on the road ahead.

Moment of truth.

Pulling up at the factory was a flurry of activity. It was still technically classed as part of an active police investigation and so was sealed off from the public, but they had already gathered all the evidence required. As such, it was the perfect place to set up a trap and ambush. While there was no obvious proof that everyone that Connor had asked Hank to involve in this operation could be trusted (Chris, Ben, Gavin and Tina), Connor knew from previous events that all of them were 100% trustworthy. They were in no way tied to Crimson, and they would be invaluable. Connor was convinced that Crimson would take larger numbers give the out of the way location – secondary casualties wouldn’t be an issue here, it wasn’t a residential spot.

But they had their own surprise waiting.

Once they were parked up, Connor took the duffel bag inside to find the rest of their team waiting. Chris met them at the door, while 900, Gavin, Ben and Tina were gearing up in their vests inside. “Nice of you two to show up,” Gavin smirked, taking the bag from Connor and tossing it on to the table next to them, giving Hank an earpiece in return. “Damn, Anderson, did you raid the whole damn lockup?”

“Ask Tina, she’s the one who filled the bag,” Hank shrugged while fitting the gadget in his ear – everyone had one save Connor and Nines, so that they could stay updated on what was going on around the factory. “So, how are we looking with ambush points?”

“900 has just been walking us through the plan – a bit half-baked this one, ain’t it, Hank?” Ben asked with a grimace while taking his own weapons.

Connor’s pump juddered a little in agreement with Ben’s assessment as Hank replied. “We’ve not exactly had much time to flesh this out, Ben, and we can’t risk hanging around. If this group is really targeting Fowler in an effort to replace him, then we’ve got to bring them in right the fuck now. With the Android Rights Bill only a week away, we can’t mess this up – too much is riding on it.”

“No need to get all dramatic on us, we know what the stakes are here,” Gavin told him seriously. “So, you two got a plan worked out on where you want all of us hiding?”

Utilising his years of experience of leading the androids in a full out war, Connor jumped in. “We need to put two people in position so that they can watch the outsides of the building, and the other three up above us in the factory as cover. Hank and I will explain everything to the Captain while getting him prepared for any company. I would suggest 900 stay as surveillance for his scanners, and perhaps whoever has the best aim?”

“That would be Chris then,” Tina snickered. “None of us have ever beaten that bastard in a drill.”

Hank turned to Chris in surprise, who was blushing at the door. “I knew you were a decent shot, but really?”

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Gavin sniggered.

“Does that mean, conversely, you would be the worst shot since you never shut up, Gavin?” 900 added with a smirk, which had most of the room laughing.

“Damn, 900, you’re getting better with those burns! My lessons are paying off,” Tina cackled.

Gavin rolled his eyes while shoving extra guns at 900. “For that, you can give these to Chris and get yourselves in position,” he huffed. “Since when did you develop a sense of humour?”

“I have plenty of time to indulge in things when you inevitably get distracted by something as we work on our cases. Your lack of attention span has given me ample opportunity: it save me being annoyed at your inactivity,” 900 added while walking away with a smile.

“Dick,” Gavin growled while sticking his tongue out at 900, Connor having to bite his lip at seeing the pair bicker. This was how they’d started flirting the first time around – playful sniping – but it didn’t happen so soon before. Had this small change of events, and the risks therein, change even that?

A notification pinged on Connor’s HUD and he grew more serious. “The Captain is only seven minutes away, we need to get into position.”

Hank nodded and waved to signal them. “You heard the man. 900, Chris, stay in contact and update us on any hostiles. The element of surprise is going to be key here, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We need as many of these bastards alive as possible to get them to talking. Let’s move!”

The group scattered, 900 and Chris bolting outside to get into surveillance positions while Ben and Tina went to the far side of the room and took one staircase up to the catwalk above. Gavin ran to the one nearest them and ascended quickly so that he was pretty much right above Hank and Connor. With their backup in position, Hank and Connor grabbed a few more table which had been laid out specially nearby and wheeled them over. Once the attack begun, they would make good cover for the group who were going to be in the centre of the room.

It felt like an age as the last couple of minutes ticked by, but news soon came through the earpieces (Connor and 900 were tuned into their frequency too) that Fowler’s car was pulling up. With one last look, Hank nodded at Connor and got the vest ready as Connor prepped their weapons. Fowler didn’t waste any time and headed inside the factory, sliding the door behind him and bolting it closed.

“Do you two want to tell me what the fuck is going on and how you came by all this intel?” he demanded as Hank shoved a vest in his face.

“Later, Jeffrey, we got bigger problems right now,” Hank told him. “This might just be paranoia, but Connor’s struck gold dust and found out who the rats are. Bad news is that they’ve been following your movements and the progress on the investigation with it. Couldn’t think of a good way to get you somewhere that we could talk freely without being tapped in on or jumped.”

“Sounds serious,” Fowler replied while getting himself fixed up in the vest and taking the earpiece Connor offered him.

“It is, we have a lot to inform you of,” the android went on. “This goes far beyond just low-level DPD.”

 ** _“We’ve got hostiles incoming from the south-east corner!_** ” came Chris’ voice through the channel. **_“Two black vans, looks like a total of ten assailants. They’re all heavily armed. One’s got a goddamned RPG!”_**

“Fuck, they’re not messing around!” Hank snarled. “Change of plans, everyone hunker down until they’re about to get inside. 900, Chris, make sure that RPG does _not_ have the chance to fire! Gavin, you’d better shift along to get somewhere more defensible, you’re a sitting duck up above us.”

 ** _“Copy that, relocating,_** **”** Gavin replied, and the trio on the ground heard as he tried to stealth his way along the catwalk to the south wall. **_“I’ve got a visual on everyone out there, can confirm ten targets. Two of them are incoming to see about entry.”_**

Connor, Hank and Fowler silently tipped the tables over so that they were braced for any unexpected surprises and ducked in behind them. It would at least offer them some cover and make them a focal point. **_“I’m circling around so that Chris and I have good positions from outdoors,”_** 900 informed them.

 ** _“We’re all set up here, looks like we’re in for a hell of a firefight,”_** Ben confirmed grimly.

 ** _“Three more have split off and are heading to the other side of the factory. North-east corner door is what they’re trying,”_** Chris updated them.

“Tina, you head over there and keep as close an eye on them as you can,” Hank instructed as Connor’s scanners kicked in for the surroundings. He locked on to the movement of the five people outside and tried to pick up as many little details as he could from the glimpses he was getting after hacking into the CCTV network. One he locked on to, recognising the build. Rage burned through his circuits but he managed to keep it out of his voice.

“Hank, Martinez is here. It looks like he’s leading the team on the north side,” Connor hissed over, painfully aware of how they were trying every door.

“Then he’s our primary target – we make sure to take him in alive no matter what,” Hank confirmed.

Connor listened and watched as the pair of assailants who were testing the doors on the south pulled back, and the group all pulled back to discuss in the vans. **_“We’ve lost visual,”_** Chris said tightly. **_“I don’t like the way they all pulled back there.”_**

“Dammit, I hate just hanging around down here as the bait,” Hank swore.

“You and me both. Connor, is there any way that 900 can relay to you his visual output? Maybe we can work out something from our positions inside?” Fowler suggested, to which Connor pinged 900 for the data. He got it through seconds later, and tapped into a datapad that they’d brought along for any potential hacks needed.

It took another twenty seconds for them to pick up movement from the trucks again, and Connor’s pump seized when he realised it was the RPG pointing from outside the sliding door at the side. Following the trajectory, Connor’s eyes snapped upwards and he bellowed, knowing that secrecy wasn’t an option for them anymore.

_“Gavin, move!”_

Not even two seconds later the rocket went off, but Gavin had been sensible enough to listen to Connor and bolt. That little time meant that the explosion didn’t hit him dead on, but he was still caught by it and was thrown across the catwalk, landing in a heap with his jacket on fire. Having heard Connor’s shout, 900 bolted from where he’d been hiding in the foliage outside and drew attention to himself as he put down a stream of gunfire, intent on drawing the focus away from the main group.

“Fuck, Reed!” Fowler shouted, but they then heard gunfire from the north side. Realising that the other group were shooting out the locks, the trio on the group swapped their attention to that side as they heard running from above. Tina was bolting across to Gavin to stop the flames from spreading and injuring him worse.

She ducked with a scream as more gunfire rained through the window she went running past, to which Connor and Fowler started to shoot back. It drew the assailants to focus on them instead, giving Tina a free run to reach Gavin. Hank kept his attention on the other side and heard Chris shout through the link that the rest of the group were keeping he and 900 pinned down while they brought over a ladder to breach via the hole they’d made.

“Chris, 900, you’ve got to take out that RPG no matter what! Reed’s down and he’s in a bad way!” he hollered through the channel, and Connor couldn’t help but look up. His scanners told him that Gavin was badly hurt, though nothing was critical. At present, the worst he would be suffering from would be the burns from where his clothes caught ablaze and some severe bruising – but he was down for the count.

 ** _“Copy that.”_** 900 replied in a deadly tone, and Connor linked up with him privately to pass on a secondary message.

_Do not takes risks looking for captives, 900. We have potential targets here – ensure your safety and that of Chris._

It took a few seconds for him to get a reply, but he was glad for the one that came back.

**_Understood. How serious is Gavin?_ **

_He’s serious, but not critical. I’ve already sent out an alert to emergency services, they’ll be here shortly. Tina is guarding him._

**_Good. Connor, three more of the group are breaking away to the north, it looks like they are circling around to join the others. Chris and I should be able to handle this group now._ **

_Okay, be careful._

“900 says that we’re about to double up on the north side!” Connor shouted so that everyone on the channels could hear.

“Ben, watch that hole to cover Tina and Gavin!” Hank ordered as he switched over to join Connor and Fowler. More gunfire could be heard outside from behind them, but then the doors on their side burst open completely and they didn’t have time to think anymore.

A cacophony of guns sounded off in the small space, the intensity of the bullets raining on the tables meaning that Hank and Fowler didn’t feel capable of firing back without severe risk of injury. Even Connor had to duck down when he thought the danger was getting too high. Without anyone up to return fire though, the group could advance inside. Knowing that he couldn’t let them get much closer, Connor jumped back up and shot, going for a kill.

That was one less person they could interrogate but Connor was less and less inclined for mercy. With so little mercy being shown, his war instincts were burning to be let out and he had to suppress them. As the stream thinned out again, Hank and Fowler flipped back up over the table to start shooting in return. They shot down two others, both non-fatally, when they heard a large explosion from behind them.

It distracted their aggressors and when they jumped, Connor pounced. He hurled a flashbang from his belt with a shout. “Down!” As soon as it had gone off, Connor leapt over the table and closed in on the three remaining members. One was quickly knocked out with a pistol whip to the head, while another was kneed hard in the stomach and thrown against the wall. Connor didn’t get the chance to deal with the last one as twin shots came from behind him and struck the last man in the shoulder and leg.

Connor turned to give both Hank and Fowler appreciative looks, while word came through over their frequency from Chris. **_“900’s taken care of everyone out here, but, er…we’ve had a bit of collateral damage. We’re not going to be able to question anyone out here I don’t think.”_**

“We’ve got a couple of fatalities in here as well, Chris – it was justifiable force,” Fowler confirmed. “They were out to kill, and they very nearly did kill someone.” He turned up to look at Tina, only just no noticing that 900 had somehow clambered up through the hole in the factory wall to check on Gavin himself. “How’s Reed?”

“Pretty well banged up, but I think he’ll be fine,” Tina shouted back before wincing. “Well, apart from some fucking nasty burns. This is not going to be a nice recovery.”

“Ambulances are only a couple of minutes out,” Connor told them while walking over to one of the men still conscious. He glared hatefully at Martinez and, before he could really think better of it, quickly punched him in the head to knock the Crimson member out. Just to not expose hit feelings towards the man, he then repeated the action with the other conscious man. “At least now we don’t have to worry about them as much,” Connor shrugged when he came back over, catching Hank’s slight smile.

“Right, now are you two going to explain to me what the fuck is going on?” Fowler demanded.

“That’s a long fucking story, Jeffrey.”

* * *

After everyone had been looked over by the paramedics and they’d got the relevant Crimson members carted off to get treatment for their wounds or tossed in cells, Connor couldn’t help but take a moment to stare at the time and date on his chronometer. As of now, it was officially part Fowler’s time of death.

He’d done it – he’d completely rewritten how that showdown with Crimson played out, and several of their members were now either dead or incarcerated. Once the injured members were deemed fit enough to be questioned, they’d all be taking a crack at them. Connor was revelling at the chance to let some of his war-hardened self come into play to make them talk. He’d find a way to make at least one of them break.

In the meantime, however, there was someone he needed to see. Someone who was currently lost in thought atop the precinct once again after they had processed everything with all the members they had brought in.

Connor emerged on to the roof and smiled as he spied Hank’s back, his jacket fluttering lightly in the evening breeze. “Long fucking day…” Hank sighed while turning back to Connor with a wry smile. “Still, I guess it could have gone a hell of a lot worse. We’re not dead for one, and we’ve got a few suspects in custody.”

As Connor came to a stop next to Hank and the pair looked over the skyline, Hank’s tone became more serious. “You heard from 900 about Reed?” he asked solemnly.

“Gavin’s going to live, but a lot of the burns are serious,” Connor told him sadly. “They don’t know a recovery period yet, but their best guess is that it would be at least a few months minimum. 900 is staying with him for when Gavin comes around from the sedative after they dug some shrapnel out of his back and legs.”

Hank winced. “Damn, didn’t think I’d ever feel sorry for Gavin but that’s got to really fucking hurt. He’s going to have a hellish recovery from that. Is 900 staying with him?”

“Yes, both he and Tina are there right now and 900 has already volunteered to stay with him long term,” Connor smiled, not having missed the protective flare from 900 at the thought of leaving Gavin while he was healing. Already the feelings between those two were growing, and Connor had to wonder whether they would wait so long in getting together again this time around.

“I can’t tell if he’s stupid or a good partner,” Hank chuckled. “Maybe a bit of both?”

“Maybe,” Connor laughed lightly. “We’re going to have a couple of days before all of our suspects are fit to be interrogated, so we can plan our questions and approach. I would personally love to go in hard, but I think I could be accused of being a little biased here,” he finished with a tight smile.

 _No fucking shit,_ he thought to himself in dark amusement.

“Won’t get any complaints from me, I’m game with that,” Hank smirked. “Make a few of them crap themselves and spill? Sounds like fun.”

The two of them stood there in the quiet for a couple of minutes before Connor broke the silence again, turning to Hank with an earnest expression. “Hank, can I ask you something?”

Sensing it was serious, Hank nodded and turned to Connor. “You know that you can ask me anything, Con. What’s on your mind?”

Wondering how to phrase it, Connor eventually managed to decided what he wanted to say. “Why did you trust me so willingly with who I wanted to involve in ambush site? We didn’t really have any proof of them all being clean, yet you trusted me to know. Why?”

Hank shrugged. “Cause I know you, Con. You wouldn’t have involved anyone that you had the slightest doubt over, so I had no issues in trusting your judgement. Besides, I trust them all too. We couldn’t both be wrong, could we?”

In the world that he’d come from, Connor was all too aware of how not being wary enough had cost them so dearly. He was infinitely more hopeful this time around. “I would hope not. Still, these past days and even months have been very stressful. They’ve forced me to look at myself and wonder whether I am doing all I can to make the lives of androids better.”

“You are, Connor, there’s no doubt about that. And with any luck, now that we have this group in cuffs we can get the evidence that ties them to Michelle’s murder and get the Android Rights Bill cleared. With that, who knows what might happen?”

Connor knew exactly what it would later pave the way to, but that wasn’t his to tell. He could only smile at Hank and nod. “It’s true, it would open up a lot of possibilities. And now that everything has settled a little bit…I think I’m going to maybe act upon one of my wishes for some time now, if I may?”

Hank raised an eyebrow at Connor, confused. “Why are you asking me that like it’s a question, Con? You know that you don’t need my permission for every…” He tailed off as he noticed Connor stepping closer, the two of them now almost pressing together and Connor looked up at Hank openly.

“Do you trust me, Hank?” he asked while reaching out for the other man’s hand, taking it lightly.

“You know damn well I do, Con,” Hank muttered in reply, sensing the charged spark to the air around them now. When Connor reached up to cup Hank’s cheek and leant forward to press their lips together, the android was delighted at finally getting to indulge in kissing Hank again.

It was different from their first time, because now Connor was the one making the first move and they weren't in nearly such a state of flux – but that didn’t stop Connor from getting butterflies in his chassis, wondering what the sensation was and how it was possible. Kissing Hank still made Connor weak at the knees and parting was difficult for him, even as he knew that humans needed to breath. He couldn’t help it when he dragged Hank into a more passionate kiss, spurred on by his initial reaction.

“Fuck…that I didn’t expect,” Hank breathed out hard. “You felt like you’ve been wanting to do that for a long time…”

Connor tampered down on his LED so that it didn’t spin yellow. Hank could never know, no one could ever know. “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to kiss you for, Hank. Sometimes it is all I think about,” he admitted, letting some of the sadness from the years of the war emerge.

Hank blushed as he smiled at Connor. “Well, you’re in luck, Con – cause I’ve been wanting that too.” As he pulled the android in for another kiss, Connor whined in his throat and held Hank tightly.

This was the start of the rest of their lives together – and this time he wouldn’t let Crimson ruin it. Connor would always be vigilant, but this was the start of something very special. A second chance for a happy ending together, even if they'd both died painful and harrowing deaths the first time.

They were definitely going to get more than six months of marriage this time, Connor swore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue to go now! It's a lot shorter and we only have a couple of loose ends to tie up. I'll see you all there!


	15. Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I wasn't mean enough to leave it until Monday to post this final chapter. You guys have been waiting for it patiently enough, it's about time you found out how the story ends.
> 
> So, here we go - the epilogue to this insanely complicated and mind bending tale. I'm not sure you're expecting this ending, and even I don't really know myself how to feel about it. I think it's happy, but at the same time I know it's bittersweet. I'd love to know what you all think.
> 
> Enjoy!

February 25th, 2044.

It was a date that had haunted Connor for almost a decade of his life now. Well, that was a matter of perspective, really. It had been the moment everything fell apart in his first one: where he’d lost his identity, home and family because of a group of humans who couldn’t accept androids as having the same right to life as they did. They’d killed thousands to start the process of a war, and the cost in the end had almost been beyond count. No matter how much he tried to, Connor couldn’t shed the skin of the war leader he’d become before.

And now he’d spent years counting down to it in the reverse. Despite having broken Crimson apart years before, he’d still been living in fear of whether there was someone he’d missed. They’d mercilessly grilled everyone that they had brought in (with Connor taking the personal pleasure of breaking Martinez – the more vicious techniques he’d learned in the war had come into play beautifully in that interrogation once he’d convinced Hank to turn a blind eye), and with it 23 people across Detroit associated with Crimson were arrested and convicted.

Even with those numbers, he hadn’t been able to fully bury the fear that something could happen today. The memories were swirling in his mind and trying their best to distract him, but he wouldn’t let them, this was a day for second chances.

A knock came from the door behind him and Connor smiled at the figure who came through the door, looking pristine in his silver suit with a sapphire blue tie and matching rose in the top pocket. “How is it that an android who can keep perfect time is going to be late to his own wedding?” came the snarky comment as his company joined him.

“Oh shut it, Richard,” Connor laughed back. “It’s traditional for whoever goes down the aisle to be fashionably late, so I’m just sticking to that. Besides, isn’t the job of my best man to make sure I’m ready on time and not vanish to have a quick rendezvous with his husband?”

Richard had the decency to blush. “How the hell did you know that’s where I was?”

“Gavin’s cologne is pretty distinctive and I can pick up hints of it even from here,” Connor smiled.

“Well, forgive me for thinking that with you being an android, you’d be able to keep to perfect time,” Richard huffed while rolling his eyes. “And what _have_ you done with your tie? Have you just done that on purpose so I have something to fix?”

Connor chuckled a little. “I’ve got a lot on my mind,” was all he said in reply as he undid it and glowered at the material. It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t everything.

“Mhmmm. Let me see it.” Richard shook his head fondly while coming over to fix the wayward material. “I don’t know why you’re nervous, you and Hank have been nothing but excited for this since you picked the date a year and a half ago.”

“I’m nervous excited,” Connor said with a smile, his LED flickering blue in confirmation. “It’s been a long time coming, and I just want everything to go perfect.”

“You know it won’t,” Richard laughed. “Gavin’s looking for revenge for Hank shoving him in the fountain at our wedding.”

Connor shook his head. “That was _your_ idea; have you still never fessed up to it?”

“Well since no-one else has ever corrected Gavin, I see no reason to myself,” he finished with a smile before looking back to the door. “Actually, Connor, I think I’m going to go check on him. I wasn’t just out there for-”

“I know, I know,” Connor smiled at Richard fondly. “I can imagine what today is doing to him. Feel free to bring him in here if you like while I finish getting ready, I don’t mind. Being around you helps.”

Richard gave Connor a thankful smile and reached out to interface with him briefly, passing that gratitude along. Connor watched as he slipped out of the door again with a soft smile, and then took a deep breath as he stared at his reflection. Even now he kept looking for that scar on his face, almost 5 years after re-entering his own timeline and changing it.

It wasn’t just the downfall of Crimson that had changed though – the consequences of that shootout in the factory had actually ended up with a path that Connor hadn’t dreamed most of their group would take.

For one, Richard and Gavin had beaten them to getting married this time, something that Connor was delighted for. With them being denied the chance the first time, he’d been thrilled at seeing their relationship blossom so much earlier: the one downside was the cost which had brought them together.

While Gavin did recover from the explosion which had badly hurt him, it had taken a great deal longer than just a few months. The pain and scarring from such deep burns to his arms, chest and neck had crippled Gavin’s confidence, and he’d resigned from the DPD after realising that he couldn’t be the same detective that he was anymore. Richard having barely left Gavin’s side through the whole process had meant they’d fallen in love very quickly, and had already decided to get married by the time Gavin left.

They had all grown a lot closer by then, their friends rallying around them to try and support the pair any way they could. On a whim on night, Connor had floated the idea of giving Gavin a new lease of life as part of a private detective agency, and Hank had leapt on to it. Even if the DPD wasn’t corrupt this time, he’d still been a little disillusioned with his work as a Lieutenant. Connor still couldn’t believe that they’d ended up with their own agency again, only this time the four of them owned it jointly. Ben and Chris had remained at the DPD with Tina and Fowler, but they frequently crossed paths since Fowler sent work their way to make sure they were never struggling.

Connor’s eyes floated back to the mirror as he saw Richard wander back inside with Gavin, the pair talking quietly between themselves before Gavin turned to look at him. “Damn, looking sharp, Connor,” he smiled with a whistle. “But aren’t you running a little late.”

“Oh shut it, I’ve already had the same talk from Rich,” Connor chuckled as he finished getting ready. “I’m surprised you’re as ready as you are.”

“Are you kidding me? Hank made sure all of us were ready about an hour and half before: I’m already dying in this suit!” Gavin moaned while going over to the fan in the corner and sighing in relief at the cold air. “We couldn’t figure out to work the one in Hank’s room, so we’re all sweating like crazy. Why do you two even have this on when you don’t need it?”

“The cold air is soothing to both of us; will you hold still? You’ve been rubbing the back of your neck so much that you’ve ruffled the collar of your shirt,” Richard sighed while fixing up his husband.

“I’m trying, but I’m not good at this shit, you know that.” Connor frowned a little at the slightly hurt tone from Gavin and tuned from their conversation, knowing Gavin needed a moment. He was painfully aware of the scarring which was visible all the way up the right side of his neck and it was something he’d still not come to terms with fully. Being so in view was a challenge for him.

A couple of minutes later, Connor turned around to see them now both looking at him with soft smiles. “Looking great, Connor, the silver was a really classy choice of colour,” Gavin complimented. “I guess I better head back and make sure he’s not pacing a trench in the floor. See you two soon.” Richard leant down and kissed Gavin quickly before letting the other man go and Connor couldn’t help but smile at seeing those two so content together.

February 25th, 2044.

Where once it had spelled the day he lost the man he loved more than anyone, now it was to become the day he married him.

What better way to purge all the memories of that horrific day, than to celebrate his wedding all over again?

* * *

 It had been a glorious day the first time around in the August of 2043. Sun shining over their small group as they celebrated quietly. There had only been around 40 people at their first wedding, but it was much closer to 70 this time. Changes to the people still in their lives meant a bigger guest list, but the change in the time of year meant a new venue too. Snow was still on the ground outside and Connor felt it gave their wedding a somewhat fantasy feel this time around.

Connor was just as giddy now as he had been before, when he and Hank were finally told they could kiss as newly married husbands. He’d been waiting for so long to call Hank that again, and he felt all his systems singing now that the moment was finally back.

He had his husband back again – and Connor wouldn’t let anything happen to him again.

The reception was a very informal affair, just like they’d wanted. Since they had a heavy mixture of both human and android guests, they’d decided to leave a buffet out for all those who would be eating and everyone just kind of landed wherever they wanted to. Despite there being tables and chairs set up around the main dining room, everyone had kind of gathered in the bar area of the hotel with their drinks and food. It only added to the light-heartedness of the whole day and Connor couldn’t be happier.

Even when Gavin got his revenge on Hank and shoved him headfirst into a pile of snow that had been shovelled right outside the front door, under the premise of meeting a couple of their evening guests. It had been incredibly funny, and even Hank had been smiling once Connor had retrieved him and dusted him off.

Seeing so many old and rediscovered friends had been a delight for Connor. Markus, Simon, North and Josh had joined them along with several others that they had helped over the years. Their former DPD colleagues had padded out the list significantly too: Fowler, his wife and children, Ben and his partner, Chris’ with his wife and now two children, and Tina with her new fiancé. Seeing everyone in the one space had been a delight, and Connor’s smile never shifted from his face for the whole day at seeing Hank so happy with everyone there.

Just before the first dance, however, the last person missing finally arrived. “Hank!”

Hank turned and soon found himself tackled by a smaller woman, who Connor only just recognised. “Fucking finally, Grace! Where the hell have you been?” he demanded while hugging her tightly.

“My bosses tried to cancel my leave yesterday, so I ended up having to pull some strings to give them an ultimatum to let me go or face looking for a new lead programmer,” Grace laughed while embracing him back. “I’ve been driving for eleven hours straight – I need a drink or ten.”

Laughing, Hank pulled back to shout over the crowd. “Gavin, get us another round with an extra Southern Comfort and lemonade! Grace has finally made it!”

“About fucking time, but you’re going to leave me broke at this rate Hank!” was the shout back, causing more laughter.

The siblings embraced again before Hank turned back to Connor with a beaming smile. “It’s long fucking overdue, but now you two can finally meet. Grace, now I get to introduce you to my new husband, Connor.” Connor’s pump skipped a beat at how proud Hank sounded and he blushed faintly. “Con, this is my younger pain in the ass sister, Grace.”

“Way to make me out to be unwelcome company, Hank,” Grace teased with an elbow before turning back to shake Connor’s hand. “Hi Connor, it’s nice to meet you.”

She looked so much younger here, Connor couldn’t help but wonder where his mind had preconstructed this rendition of Grace. Still, that wasn’t something for him to dwell on. “It’s nice to finally meet you too, Grace. I’ve heard plenty of stories,” he joked, causing Grace to spin back with a scowl.

“What crap have you been spouting about me, Hank?” she demanded, to which Hank laughed.

“Nothing untrue, I’ve just been telling him a few of your misadventures from your younger days,” Hank replied with his hands up, but his attention was soon snatched by Gavin shouting over that he needed another pair of hands. “Ah shit. I’ll be back in a bit, please don’t fight in the thirty seconds that I’ll be gone.”

Grace laughed as Hank tried to fight his way through the throng of people to get to Gavin at the bar. Now left with just her, Connor really wasn’t sure how to react but he soon found himself being embraced in a warm hug, and the words whispered to him in his ear were not what he expected.

“That shows me just how well you truly knew and loved him. If I hadn’t known any better, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.”

Pulling back in shock, Connor took a good look at her again and finally saw the conflicting emotions in her eyes. That shadow which came from years of grief and suffering. “Grace?” he whispered to her, suddenly realising that he was talking to the original Grace, and not a constructed version of her.

“Hello again, Connor. You have no idea how nice it is to see this: I only wish I’d gotten the chance the first time,” she sniffled a little. “I would have given anything to see him this happy.”

“How are you here? I thought you said you’d never perfected the technology for humans?” Connor asked quietly.

“A lot of time has passed, Connor. While there isn’t the same funding to the project anymore, Markus has been paying for it to keep running. He’s also been helping to finally allow me to interact with the world inside here. I’m not the only one who has come in to say hello,” she smiled, while directing her gaze behind Connor.

He turned and saw that both Markus and Simon had come across, and he soon found himself tackled into a hug by the pair of them. It was familiar, even after all this time from when they’d said goodbye and Connor let a couple of happy tears fall at realising they were here. When they pulled back, Markus looked at Connor with an understanding smile.

“I know that when you chose this world years ago, I couldn’t understand why you would pick a computer over our own world. But now, existing in here…” Markus looked behind him to see North and Josh laughing away while speaking to Richard and Gavin. It was something that resonated deeply with Connor, and clearly it struck a chord with Markus too.

“Having now had a taste of it myself, I can see why you would choose it,” Markus told him heartfully. “Having them here again…it’s almost as if nothing ever happened.” Spinning back to face Connor again, he smiled sadly. “I don’t blame you for wanting a second chance, and I see now how easy it would be to accept this as a new reality. I truly hope that life is much kinder to you all this time.”

Connor nodded, emotion making his voice waver a little. “Thank you, Markus. There’s no reason why you couldn’t join me in here someday, if you wanted your own second chance.”

Simon jumped in with a knowing expression. “We already have our own, Connor. The world has changed a lot since you left us, and things have changed for the better. It’s somewhere safe for androids now, and we’ll never let those we lost along the way be forgotten. We’ll make sure to safeguard our own new world, as long as you promise to do the same in here.”

“You know I will,” Connor told them while bringing them in for one last hug. “I’m so glad I got to see you two again – I’m happy here, truly. I have everyone back, and today I’ve got my husband again. I have everything I could truly want, and I’m going to make the most of this second chance.”

Markus nodded and pulled back with Simon at his side, the two of them giving Connor one last smile as they walked away to re-join North and Josh. He could imagine just how conflicting it would be for them in here, to be reunited with so many people that they had lost. He’d long since accepted the realities of this place, but having Hank back along with everyone else made up for it.

Grace hadn’t been wrong in what she’d said earlier – if you hadn’t known otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between this world and the one he left behind.

“I know what you’ve been thinking of doing, Connor,” Grace said softly, drawing his attention back to her, “and I’ve been helping along however I can. If you decide to do it, I can assure you that it wouldn’t cause this place to crash or anything like that. Everything needed to keep it running would be safe and isolated.”

Connor looked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”

“I’m a programmer, Connor, I know how it looks when you’re messing with your own code,” she laughed before her attention was stolen by spying Hank coming back. “I just wanted to say that if you truly wanted it, then you can do it.”

Hank then reappeared with a drink for Grace and for himself. “Sorry, Jeffrey caught me at the bar and I couldn’t get away from him,” he laughed while wrapping an arm around Connor’s waist and keeping him close. “Hope you two are getting on fine?”

The pair of them smiled and nodded. “Oh yeah, we’re getting on just great, Hank,” Grace told him.

“Everything’s perfect,” Connor sighed while leaning into Hank, not letting him get too far. He wanted to always be here.

* * *

As the night was winding down, Connor ventured out into the snowy outdoors for some time to himself. The day had been perfect, he couldn’t have asked for a better way to marry Hank again – this was almost an improvement on their first wedding. Everyone they could ever had wanted in attendance (at least that was possible), was there.

But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t chase away every memory of what this day had been the first time around. Even now, having had the perfect day, the contrast with his previous nightmare version of it wasn’t enough to erase the hurt. It finally helped him decide that his plan was the best thing.

Everyone else had got their second chances, now it was time for Connor to get his in earnest. He wasn’t the man that Hank deserved to marry, there were so many ghosts that still haunted him. Not any more though – there was no better day to have a fresh start than right now.

And if he was to have one final memory as this version of himself, then he couldn’t have asked for anything better.

**MEMORY ERASURE PROGRAM BOOTING. COMMENCING IN 42 SECONDS.**

Closing his eyes, Connor allowed himself to slip into the Zen Garden and knelt in front of the gravestone there. It wasn’t needed any more, he had Hank back again. They were about to have a futures as husbands once more. Now it was time to repurpose it.

He rested a hand against it and it vanished, leaving something else behind in it’s place. With a gentle smile, Connor inscribed a last memento of himself before watching the clock tick down in his HUD.

**-00:00:03**  
**-00:00:02**  
 **-00:00:01**  
 **-00:00:00**

No more memories of war or suffering, of knowing he’s failed to stop New York being destroyed

No more recollection of the day he failed and Crimson got their foothold into the DPD.

No more remembering his husband dying in his arms.

From today, he was simply Connor Anderson, Hank Anderson’s new husband. All his memories of the previous events were gone, and with it he truly had his second chance, even if Connor didn’t realise that it was that anymore.

It was now just his life.

“Hey, there you are!”

Connor emerged from the memory deletion program and gave Hank a beaming smile as the older man came to stand beside him outside. “There I was wondering if you’d done a runner on me,” he laughed, kissing Connor’s cheek.

“Hardly, I wouldn’t have married you if I was intending on going anywhere,” Connor laughed, spinning in Hank’s arms to wrap himself around his husband’s waist. “I just needed a moment.”

“Can’t blame you for that, sweetheart, it feels like we’ve had barely a moment all day.” Hank pressed his forehead against Connor’s and beamed. “So, has it sank in for you yet? It sure as hell hasn’t for me.”

“No, but it’s a good thing. I know I can’t always be this giddy, but I’m making the most of it,” Connor giggled back.

Hank’s smile made Connor’s heart melt and it only burned brighter when Hank leant down to press their lips together. “I love you, Con. I can’t believe we’ve finally got here and you’re mine now.”

“I’ve always been yours, Hank, it’s just says it legally now,” Connor pointed out with a wink before kissing Hank passionately. “What do you say we get out of here soon and make it official that we’re husbands in every way?” he purred.

“Careful, baby, we’ve still got a few songs to go before we can sneak away. You can last that long I’m sure.”

_“Haaannnkkk…”_ he whined, but Hank was having none of it.

“Another half an hour and I’m all yours, sweetheart. You’d better believe that I’m going to be getting you out of that suit in record time.”

“I hope that’s a promise,” Connor winked, causing Hank to laugh.

“You’d better believe it, honey. Come on, we only get married once – let me enjoy these last few dances with you.”

* * *

It was only after the two of them were back in their room for the night, Hank sleeping and Connor drifting on the edge of stasis after thoroughly consummating their marriage, that Connor finally ventured back into the Zen Garden to reminisce on the day. It was dusted in snow, just as it had been for their wedding, and a gentle drift still fell – all adding to the peacefulness of the garden.

His whole system was singing at the feeling of the new ring on his finger and the knowledge that he and Hank were finally married. Walking around the edge of the pond, deep in thought, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

On his fourth lap around, Connor finally noticed the stone plinth which seemed new beneath one of the trees. Well, this was the first time he had spied it anyway, whether it was actually new was another thing entirely.

Still dressed in his suit from his wedding in his mind, Connor crouched beside it and brushed away the faint layer of snow atop it. He couldn’t help but stare in surprised at the engraving of twin rings entwined at the top, and the words which lay beneath it. Reading them over several times, he still couldn’t understand why they were there or what they meant. Even as he instead sat down and mused on it all the way until Hank stirred in his sleep to begin their first full day as a married couple, Connor was still clueless.

Feeling his husband begin to awaken, Connor left the garden but the discovery was never far from his mind. He couldn’t help but wonder what tale lay behind the inscription on that plinth or where it had come from, whose and what story it told.

Maybe he would figure it out, someday.

* * *

**_We all find our way home, no matter the challenges along the way._ **

**_Back to where we are meant to be._ **

**_I swore I would give up anything and everything to hold you in my arms again._ **

**_Now, with this end, I shall have that chance._ **

**_Let this new life be the one that we deserve._ **

**_I love you, forever and always; and I will never stop trying to make our future the best it can be._ **

**_This is my promise._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, **Dreamweaver** is complete! 
> 
> I hope the ending makes up for a large degree of the heartbreak that you were all put through: Connor has wiped out all his memories from where the timeline started to diverge, so now he has now recollection of how things all went wrong the first time. He only knows the version of the world inside the Dreamweaver program anymore.
> 
> And since he doesn't know that it's a computer program, who is anyone to tell him that it isn't real?
> 
> I'll leave you all with that thought, it's been sticking with me for a while.
> 
> Thank you all so much for the amazing support you have shown, and I would like to give a massive shoutout to the incredible Kai who made the gorgeous art for this fic. Love you forever, hun.
> 
> Come check me out on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SkyeWillows) and [Tumblr](https://skyewillows.tumblr.com), or ask for my Discord to scream at me on there! All screams welcome!
> 
> I am a slave to all forms of feedback (kudos, subs, bookmarks and especially comments), so please feel free to indulge me.
> 
> Until my next fic, people, I hope to see many of you there!


End file.
